It's The Economy Stupid: Inflation? What inflation?

The Consumer Price Index Goes Negative

 

Economic Event	Period	Economic Survey	Actual Reported	Original Prior	Revised Prior
Consumer Price Index MoM	MAR	0.%	-0.2%	0.7%
CPI Ex Food & Energy MoM	MAR	0.2%	0.1%	0.2%
Consumer Price Index YoY	MAR	1.6%	1.5%	2.0%
CPI Ex Food & Energy YoY	MAR	2.0%	1.9%	2.0%
CPI Core Index SA	MAR	232.963	232.758	232.512
Consumer Price Index NSA	MAR	232.929	232.773	232.166
Housing Starts	MAR	930K	1036K	917K	968K
Housing Starts MoM%	MAR	1.4%	7.0%	0.8%	7.3%
Building Permits	MAR	942K	902K	946K	939K
Building Permits MoM%	MAR	0.3%	-3.9%	4.6%	3.9%

 

So, those of you who were worried about inflation, chillax!  CPI just went negative.

 

Housing Starts were good for the month of March.

 

Building Permits, not so much.

 

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Consumer Prices in U.S. Fell in March on Cheaper Gasoline

 

 

The cost of living in the U.S. declined in March for the first time in four months as cheaper gasoline and clothing kept inflation in check.

 

The consumer-price index dropped 0.2 percent after a 0.7 percent jump in February. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey called for

no change. The core measure, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, rose 0.1 percent, less than forecast.

 

Estimates of the 82 economists in the Bloomberg survey ranged from a decline of 0.3 percent to a gain of 0.3 percent. Economists forecast a 0.2 percent gain in the core index, according to the survey median.

 

For the 12 months that ended in March, consumer prices increased 1.5 percent, the smallest gain since July, compared with a 2 percent year-over-year gain reported in February. For the same period, the core CPI rose 1.9 percent, following a 2 percent increase a month earlier. 

 

Energy costs decreased 2.6 percent from a month earlier.  Gasoline prices dropped 4.4 percent, while electricity was 0.6 percent cheaper.

 

 

Housing Starts

 

Another report showed new-home construction jumped more than forecast in March as multifamily projects climbed to the highest level in more than seven years. Starts rose 7 percent to a 1.04 million annual rate, the most since June 2008, following a revised 968,000 annual rate in February that was larger than previously reported.