Inflation declines to 6% in February in sigh of relief for economy

[mystery-ak]

Inflation declines to 6% in February in sigh of relief for economy
by Zachary Halaschak, Economics Reporter |
March 14, 2023 08:32 AM


Inflation slowed to a 6% rate in the year ending in February, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday, a welcome sign as the Federal Reserve prepares to meet for a monetary policy meeting.

The much-anticipated numbers from the consumer price index show that, while inflation is much too high, it is cooling in response to the Fed's aggressive interest rate hikes.

Inflation had been running at 6.4% the month before. Tuesday’s report marks seven straight months of declines in annual inflation after the rate peaked at a whopping 9.1% in June.

SVB COLLAPSE: FED’S PLAN FOR RATE HIKES FALL BY THE WAYSIDE

Prices overall grew by 0.4 percentage points between January and February (as opposed to an annual basis), according to the index, a deceleration from December to January.

Meanwhile, “core inflation,” which strips out volatile food and energy prices, was at 5.5% in the year ending in February.

The higher prices are hitting consumers hard. The rising cost of food, in particular, has been difficult for many households. The price of chicken has risen 8.8% over the last year, while dairy products have increased in price by 12.3%.

more
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/economy/inflation-declines-to-6-in-february-in-sigh-of-relief-for-economy

[catfish1957]

6%?  Sigh of relief?

Even if I remotely believed this sham number.  Announcing this is akin to let's breath a sigh of relief because your cancer isn't spreading as fast as it was.

And again, to the matter of 6%....   There is massive anecdotal evidence (see mine below) that this thing is still 10+%.  Lying to us, has been the norm, and its not going anytime soon. 

I do an annual and quarterly very precise budgeting to the dollar of what constitutes a  normal, austerity, or emergency budgetary process.  We track it to the $.  2Q '22- 2Q '23 normal?  Up 11.87%. This 6% even on a short term basis, is utter bull shit.

[mountaineer]

Jacki Kotkiewicz
@jackikotkiewicz
On heels of bank failures, new data shows inflation remains uncomfortably high

CPI: +6% y/y
Electricity: +12.9%
Natural Gas: +14.3%
Groceries: +10.2%
Chicken +8.8%
Milk: +8.1%
Eggs: +55.4%
Bread: +15.8%
Baby Food: +9.8%
Airline Fares: +26.5%
Real Average Hourly Wages: -1.3%
8:38 AM · Mar 14, 2023

[Free Vulcan]

Jacki Kotkiewicz
@jackikotkiewicz
On heels of bank failures, new data shows inflation remains uncomfortably high

CPI: +6% y/y
Electricity: +12.9%
Natural Gas: +14.3%
Groceries: +10.2%
Chicken +8.8%
Milk: +8.1%
Eggs: +55.4%
Bread: +15.8%
Baby Food: +9.8%
Airline Fares: +26.5%
Real Average Hourly Wages: -1.3%
8:38 AM · Mar 14, 2023

Nice list. These are the core things that people buy every week, and are a far more indicative meter of the real rate of inflation for the average Joe and Jane.

[mountaineer]

More perspective:

Lucas Tomlinson
@LucasFoxNews
U.S. inflation:

Jan 2021: 1.4%
Feb 1.7%
Mar 2.6%
April 4.2%
May 5.0%
June 5.4%
July 5.4%
Aug 5.3%
Sept 5.4%
Oct 6.2%
Nov 6.8%
Dec 7.0%

Jan. 2022: 7.5%
Feb 7.9%
Mar 8.5%
April 8.3%
May 8.6%
June 9.1%
July 8.5%
Aug 8.3%
Sept 8.2%
Oct 7.7%
Nov 7.1%
Dec 6.5%

Jan 2023: 6.4%
Feb 6.0%
8:48 AM · Mar 14, 2023

[mystery-ak]

 March 14, 2023 8:35am EDT
Inflation rose 0.4% in February as prices remain stubbornly high
Economists expected core inflation to increase again in February

By Megan Henney FOXBusiness

Inflation remained uncomfortably high in February, although it has cooled slightly from a peak notched in 2022.

The Labor Department said Tuesday that the consumer price index, a broad measure of the price for everyday goods including gasoline, groceries and rents, rose 0.4% in February from the previous month. Prices climbed 6% on an annual basis.

Those figures were both in line with forecasts by Refinitiv economists.

It marked the slowest annual inflation rate since September 2021. Still, inflation remains about three times higher than the pre-pandemic average, underscoring the persistent financial burden placed on millions of U.S. households by high prices.

more
https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/inflation-rose-february-prices-remain-stubbornly-high

[mountaineer]

Inflation is now so bad people are nostalgic for 2021, when an avocado cost $1 instead of $2.50, and a dozen eggs were $1.60 not $4.21

   * Inflation is causing people to become nostalgic about times in the recent past
   * The increasing prices of common food products is outgrowing wage hikes
   * Psychology also plays a role - people have exaggerated perceptions of inflation 

By Neirin Gray Desai For Dailymail.Com
Published: 01:10 EDT, 16 March 2023 | Updated: 08:23 EDT, 16 March 2023 ...
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11866097/Inflation-bad-people-nostalgic-2021-avocado-cost-1-instead-2-50.html