February Inflation Diary

March 12, 2024 08:31

Here's the CNBC headline:

Analysis from ZeroHedge:

Inflation Hot: Consumer Prices Hit New Record High, Up 19% Since ‘Bidenomics’ Began

Food costs are up over 21% since Biden’s term began, but non-supervisory wages are up only 18%…

ZeroHedgeTyler Durden

Here is Wells Fargo's view:

Wells Fargo - February CPI: FOMC Still Searching for Confidence

Wells Fargo

March 13, 2024 09:20

The Atlanta Fed maintains the "Sticky-Price" CPI (who knew?).

As the name suggests, the Sticky CPI contains categories of prices that change infrequently, rent for instance. Sticky CPI is up 4.4% from the prior year, well above the BLS reported numbers.

Mike Shedlock sheds more light in this post:

The Atlanta Fed Sticky-Price CPI Is Up 4.4 Percent From a Year Ago

Some prices change frequently, notably gasoline. However, over 70 percent of the CPI changes infrequently. This post discusses the Atlanta Fed Sticky price project.

MishTalkMike Shedlock

At the other end of the spectrum, here's Truflation's latest read on inflation:

March 14, 2024 08:36

Headline PPI was 2x the expected rate of 0.3%. Core PPI was +0.3% also higher than the expected 0.2%.

Here is Mish Shedlock's take on the report.

Producer Price Index (PPI) Much Hotter Than Expected in February

The Bloomberg economists expected the PPI to rise 0.3 percent. It rose double that, with two-thirds of the rise attributed to goods. Gasoline prices rose 6.8 percent.

MishTalkMike Shedlock

Bottom line? I think investors will continue to be disappointed with inflation's rate of decline. The Fed will continue to push out the date for the first rate cut. Better get used to "higher for longer". (BTW, If you are a net saver, that's not a bad thing.)