But that headline be like:
[Inflation under control]
Posted on 04/11/2019 8:29:45 AM PDT by Red Badger
U.S. producer prices increased by the most in five months in March, but underlying wholesale inflation was tame.
The Labor Department said on Thursday its producer price index for final demand rose 0.6 percent last month, lifted by a surge in the cost of gasoline. That was the largest increase since last October and followed a 0.1 percent gain in February.
In the 12 months through March, the PPI rose 2.2 percent after advancing 1.9 percent in February. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the PPI would climb 0.3 percent in March and increase 1.9 percent on a year-on-year basis.
A key gauge of underlying producer price pressures that excludes food, energy and trade services was unchanged last month after ticking up 0.1 percent in February. The so-called core PPI increased 2.0 percent in the 12 months through March. That was the smallest annual increase since August 2017 and followed a 2.3 percent rise in February..
Data on Wednesday showed consumer prices rose by the most in 14 months in March, driven by more expensive gasoline. But core inflation remained muted amid a plunge in the cost of apparel.
Slowing domestic and global growth are keeping inflation contained. Wage inflation has also been moderate despite a tight labor market.
Minutes of the Federal Reserve’s March 19-20 policy meeting published on Wednesday described inflation as “muted,” though officials expected it to rise to or near the U.S. central bank’s 2 percent target. The Fed’s preferred inflation measure, the core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, is currently at 1.8 percent.
Last month, wholesale energy prices jumped 5.6 percent, with gasoline prices shooting up 16.0 percent, the most since August 2009. Energy prices rose 1.8 percent in February.
Gasoline accounted for over 60 percent of the 1.0 percent rise in goods prices last month. Goods prices increased 0.4 percent in February.
Wholesale food prices rose 0.3 percent in March, reversing a 0.3 percent drop in the prior month. Core goods prices rose 0.2 percent after edging up 0.1 percent in February.
The cost of services increased 0.3 percent in March after being unchanged in the prior month. Prices for healthcare services fell 0.2 percent last month. There was a sharp drop in the cost of hospital outpatient services. Those healthcare costs feed into the core PCE price index.
US Pee Pee Eye
But that headline be like:
[Inflation under control]
Yeah. It’s gas prices. And this one seems to be as fabricated as the one five or six years ago. Gas should be getting continually cheaper.
I wonder how much of that is from switching to the summer blends while increasing the ethanol content.
We all know of course that food and fuel are not core essential goods and should not be in the PPI. Hogwash.
The index remotely illustrates the change in cost of living. Since retirement I now go shopping with the wife. Over the years she has done a remarkable job of managing expenses. I see prices go up at the stores with regularity. Thank goodness for Aldi. Gratefully, beef prices are moderate but not cheap.
I see Cracker Barrel went up about a buck across the board on their breakfasts in the last couple of months.
Taxes would be a good investment if there were such a thing. The surrounding municipalities are on a spree of voting sales tax increases. It is becoming in the range of VAT being about 11% in some places.
Plus ethanol is in short supply due to the Midwest flooding
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