Inflation

The rising cost of gas, food and rent all contributed to the big increase, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said, and economists expect inflation to pick up even ...

Omair Sharif, founder of Inflation Insights, said he expects inflation to pick up to 8.3% in March as pump prices surge. Sanctions and other economic responses to Russia’s war in Ukraine promise to keep inflation elevated, at least for a while, as gas prices rise. Rapidly climbing prices have hit consumers in the pocketbook, causing confidence to fall and stretching household budgets.

The consumer price index for February was expected to rise 7.8% over the past year, according to Dow Jones estimates.

It will be the first time the central bank has raised rates in more than three years, and mark a reversal of a zero interest rate policy and unprecedented levels of cash injections for an economy that in 2021 grew at its fastest pace in 37 years. Continuing claims rose slightly to just below 1.5 million, though the four-week moving average remained at its lowest level since 1970. On Thursday, the European Central Bank said it was not moving its benchmark interest rate but would end its own asset purchase program sooner than planned. A raging crisis in Europe has only fed into the price pressures, as sanctions against Russia have coincided with surging gasoline costs. Vehicle costs have been a powerful inflationary force but showed signs of easing in February. Used car and truck prices actually declined 0.2%, their first negative showing since September 2021, but are still up 41.2% over the past year. Shelter costs, which account for about one-third of the CPI weighting, accelerated another 0.5%, for a 12-month rise of 4.7%, the fastest annual increase since May 1991. Inflation has roared higher amid an unprecedented government spending blitz coupled with persistent supply chain disruptions that have been unable to keep up with stimulus-fueled demand, particularly for goods over services. On a monthly basis, core CPI was up 0.5, also consistent with Wall Street expectations. Prices at the pump are up about 24% over just the past month and 53% in the past year, according to AAA. Moreover, business are raising costs to keep up with the price of raw goods and increasing pay in a historically tight labor market in which there are about 4.8 million more job openings than there are available workers. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core inflation rose 6.4%, in line with estimates and the highest since August 1982. - Excluding food and energy, both of which moved sharply higher during the month, core inflation still rose 6.4%, in line with expectations but the highest since August 1982.

Taking it a step further, the risks of aggressive rate hikes into slowing growth is often a recession. Not deterred by this, the ECB, currently at the epicentre ...

No opinion given in this material constitutes a recommendation by City Index or the author that any particular investment, security, transaction or investment strategy is suitable for any specific person. This material is short term in nature and may only relate to facts and circumstances existing at a specific time or day. This report does not contain and is not to be taken as containing any financial product advice or financial product recommendation This material has been prepared using the thoughts and opinions of the author and these may change. As the war in Ukraine is likely much closer to the beginning than the end, the current dislocation in energy and commodity markets can continue. Apart from being a stealth tax on savings, the risk of persistently high inflation is that expectations can become unanchored or entrenched at higher levels.

Annual inflation climbed to a new four-decade high in February, with consumer prices up 7.9% from a year ago. The increase does not reflect most of the ...

You may click on “Your Choices” below to learn about and use cookie management tools to limit use of cookies when you visit NPR’s sites. If you click “Agree and Continue” below, you acknowledge that your cookie choices in those tools will be respected and that you otherwise agree to the use of cookies on NPR’s sites. NPR’s sites use cookies, similar tracking and storage technologies, and information about the device you use to access our sites (together, “cookies”) to enhance your viewing, listening and user experience, personalize content, personalize messages from NPR’s sponsors, provide social media features, and analyze NPR’s traffic.

In January the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the 2021 Consumer Price Index (CPI), which is the main metric that the Federal Reserve uses to track ...

The CPI is a massive lie, and it is the single biggest contributor for wealth inequality in this country. It is literally the job description of the Federal Reserve to keep prices as stable as possible. The more people think that inflation is an issue the more it will become an issue. Indeed, in the early 80’s the government began to understand that inflation has a sort of self-reinforcing effect. The pressure on prices will now be exacerbated due to this exogenous event. This still accepted equation states that inflation is equal to the rate of increase in the money supply times the change in velocity. Thirdly, it allows them a free pass to print money so they can afford to pay for government spending for which the government cannot afford. According to the National Association of Realtors, the median price for an existing home rose around 14% in 2021. This misrepresentation of inflation, I would argue, is the greatest lie that is being told to the American people today. The rate of inflation, with velocity held constant, equals exactly the growth rate of the money supply. On the contrary, when Volcker took over in 1979, the CPI was reported at 11.8%, while money supply growth (M2) was virtually the same at 12%. That seems like the very definition of inflation.” And you would be correct!

U.S. consumer price gains accelerated in February to a fresh 40-year high on rising gasoline, food and housing costs, with inflation poised to rise even ...

Both readings matched the median projections of economists in a Bloomberg survey. The consumer price index jumped 7.9% from a year earlier following a 7.5% annual gain in January, Labor Department data showed Thursday. The widely followed inflation gauge rose 0.8% in February from a month earlier, reflecting higher gasoline, food and shelter costs. U.S. consumer price gains accelerated in February to a fresh 40-year high on rising gasoline, food and housing costs, with inflation poised to rise even further following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Europe prepares for reverberations of war: a slower economy and faster inflation. The European Central Bank is moving ahead with plans to end its bond-buying ...

The central bank cut its forecasts for economic growth this year to 3.7 percent from 4.2 percent because of the war. More than a third of the European Union’s natural gas came from Russia last year. The conflict has already caused dizzying spikes in energy prices and is causing Europe to raise its military spending. On Thursday, the central bank raised its projections for inflation for the next three years, predicting that annual inflation for 2022 would be 5.1 percent, up from a forecast of 3.2 percent three months ago. Russia’s invasion on Ukraine has had a ripple effect across the globe, adding to the stock market’s woes. In its statement, the bank dropped previous language that said rates could go lower. They said the region’s economy would grow 2.5 percent this year, down from the 3.9 percent previously predicted. But in the face of rising inflation, which is nearly triple the central bank’s 2 percent target, policymakers confirmed on Thursday its plans to end its pandemic-era 1.85 trillion-euro ($2.05 trillion) bond-buying program at the end of this month. Under the bond-buying schedule presented Thursday, the bank will purchase €40 billion of bonds in April, €30 billion in May and €20 billion in June. After that, purchases would be “data dependent” — in other words, dependent on economic conditions — but the bank would seek to end them in the third quarter, which some analysts have interpreted as a sign that rates could still be lifted toward the end of the year. “The prospects for the economy will depend on the course of the Russia-Ukraine war and on the impact of economic and financial sanctions,” said Ms. Lagarde, who described the conflict as “a watershed for Europe.” Inflation is forecast to be 2.1 percent in 2023, just above the central bank’s target, and 1.9 percent in 2024. Under a previous schedule, the older program didn’t have a proposed end date.

European markets nudged higher on Friday, as global investors assessed soaring U.S. inflation and a hawkish surprise from the European Central Bank.

The ECB on Thursday announced that it will end its bond-buying program in the third quarter of 2022 if economic data justifies it, sooner than previously planned. The U.K. economy rebounded more strongly than expected in January after its late 2021 Covid-induced slowdown. Talks between Russian and Ukrainian diplomats in Turkey have stalled without progress on a cease-fire or an evacuation passage for civilians attempting to flee the besieged city of Mariupol. President Christine Lagarde said the war will have a "material impact on economic activity and inflation." - President Christine Lagarde said the war will have a "material impact on economic activity and inflation." - The ECB on Thursday announced that it will end its bond-buying program in the third quarter of 2022 if economic data justifies it, sooner than previously planned.

Consumer prices surged at a 7.9% annual pace in February, led by gas, food, and shelter costs, adding to pressure on the Fed to tighten monetary policy.

The consumer-price index rose 0.8% in February from a month earlier, the Labor Department said Thursday, marking an uptick from January’s 0.6% pace. Economists had expected prices to rise 0.7% in February over the month and 7.8% over the year. Consumer prices surged at a 7.9% annual pace in February as gasoline, shelter, and food costs soared, extending a four-decade high for inflation and intensifying pressure on the central bank to tighten policy.

Inflation is theft. It siphons money particularly from poor, working and middle-class Americans. But Joe Biden fueled it with absurd fiscal policies that ...

There’s a way out for Biden: Stop kowtowing to the left and bring back energy independence at home. That is, unless Sleepy Joe has an awakening and reverses his bizarre energy policies that made America dependent on despots from Russia to Venezuela. No matter how fast the environmentalists and their lackeys in the White House push for a zero-carbon footprint, we still depend on oil and gas as the lifeblood of our economy. And he appointed as an accomplice Fed chair Jerome Powell, who printed money well after COVID stopped being an existential threat to the economy.