It's The Economy Stupid: CPI

Economist were expecting LESS inflation as measured by CPI. And the numbers came out just about as expected, no surprises.  Let’s call that a good thing.

 

Economic Event	Period	Economic Survey	Actual Reported	Original Prior	Revised Prior
CPI MoM	MAR	0.3%	0.3%	0.4%
CPI Ex Food & Energy MoM	MAR	0.2%	0.2%	0.1%
CPI YoY	MAR	2.7%	2.7%	2.9%
CPI Ex Food & Energy YoY	MAR	2.2%	2.3%	2.2%
CPI NSA	MAR	229.254	229.392	227.663
CPI Core Index	MAR		228.432	227.907

 

Okay, CPI is the broadest of the Government’s price gauges because it includes goods and services. Almost 60 percent of the index covers prices consumers pay for services ranging from medical visits to airline fares, movie tickets and rents.

 

As defined by CPI, the cost of living in the U.S. increased at a slower pace in March as the run-up in energy prices eased.  Lending SOME credence supporting the view of some Federal Reserve policy makers that inflation will ebb.

 

Here a little nugget in the full report. Three was a 1.3 percent jump in the cost of used cars and trucks, the biggest since December 2009, and it contributed to the increase in the core measure, as did increases in clothing and medical care.

 

Today’s report showed energy costs increased 0.9 percent down significantly after jumping 3.2 percent in February. Food costs increased 0.2 percent, reflecting broad-based gains.

    

Lull before the storm?  The cost of a gallon of regular gasoline at the pump eased to $3.91 on April 11 from a 10-month high of $3.94 reached a week earlier, according to from AAA, the biggest U.S. auto group.

 

 

 

John Broussard

Assistant State Treasurer

Chief Investment Officer

State of Louisiana

Department of the Treasury