Inflation Summary: Annual Inflation up sharply to ~5% (actually 4.99%) CPI Index rose from 267.054 in April to 269.195 in May. Monthly Inflation for April was 0.82% and 0.80% in May. We have to go back to the Oil Peak of 2008 to see higher inflation. Next release July 13th Annual inflation for the 12 months ending in May was 4.99% Since February, we have been predicting Annual Inflation would shoot up in March and April due to negative numbers falling out of the annual calculation. Although May 2020 was not negative it was virtually zero so replacing it with a massive 0.80% monthly inflation caused the Annual inflation rate to soar once more. Since the BLS rounds … [Read more...]
November Annual Inflation Jumps Up But…
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its November Inflation report on December 11th, 2019, for the 12 months through the end of November 2019. November Inflation is Up Annual inflation in November was 2.05% up from October's 1.76%. The last time inflation was this high was in April. Inflation has been in a narrow range through much of 2019. 1.79% in May, 1.81% in July, 1.65% in June, with a high of 2.00% in April. Inflation peaked at 2.95% in July 2018. The CPI-U index in November was 257.208 down from 257.346 Monthly Inflation for November was -0.05% much higher than -0.33% in November 2018. Next release January 14th The CPI index itself actually … [Read more...]
September Inflation Virtually Unchanged
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its September Inflation report on October 10th, 2019, for the 12 months through the end of September 2019. Annual Inflation is Down Very Slightly Annual inflation in September was 1.71% virtually unchanged from August's 1.75%. Inflation has been in a narrow range throughout 2019. 1.79% in May, 1.81% in July, 1.65% in June, peaking at 2.00% in April. Inflation peaked at 2.95% in July 2018. The CPI-U index in September was 256.759 up from 256.558 in August. Monthly Inflation for September was 0.08%, August was -0.01%, July was 0.17%, June was virtually zero at 0.02%, May was 0.21%, April was 0.53%, March was 0.56%. … [Read more...]
September Annual Inflation Down to 2.28%
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released their monthly Consumer Price Index report on October 11th 2018, for the 12 month period through the end of September. Annual Inflation is Down Annual inflation was down from 2.70% in August and 2.95% in July to 2.28% in September. CPI was 252.439 in September, 252.146 in August, 252.006 in July and 251.989 in June. Monthly Inflation for September was 0.12%, August was 0.06%, July was 0.01%, and June was 0.16% compared to 0.53% in September 2017. Next release November 14th Monthly Inflation: Annual inflation for the 12 months ending in September was 2.28% down from 2.70% in August. "The Consumer Price Index for All … [Read more...]
August Inflation Down
On September 13th 2018, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released their monthly Consumer Price Index report on the status of Inflation for the 12 months through the end of August. Annual Inflation is Down Annual inflation in August was 2.70% down from 2.95% in July and 2.87% in June. (BLS rounds both to 2.9%) CPI was 252.146 in August, 252.006 in July and 251.989 in June. Monthly Inflation for August was 0.06%, July was 0.01%, and June was 0.16% compared to 0.30% in August 2017. Next release October 11th Monthly Inflation: Annual inflation for the 12 months ending in August was 2.70%. 2.95% up from 2.87% in June. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) rounds … [Read more...]
April Inflation UP
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released the Annual Inflation Rate data for the year through the end of April on May 10th 2018. Annual Inflation is Up Annual inflation rate was 2.46% up from 2.36% in March and 2.21% in February. CPI was 250.546 in April, 249.554 in March, 248.991 in February, 247.867 in January and 246.524 in December. Monthly Inflation for April was 0.40%, up from 0.23% in March 2018 Next release June 12th Monthly Inflation: Annual inflation for the 12 months ending in April was 2.46% up from 2.36% in March. February was 2.21% and January was 2.07%. Early in 2017 inflation was 2.50% in January, 2.74% in February and 2.38% in … [Read more...]
January’s Monthly Inflation 0.54%
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released the Annual Inflation Rate data for the year through the end of January on February 14th 2018. Annual inflation was 2.07% in January down from 2.11% in December CPI-U up from 246.524 to 247.867 Monthly Inflation for January 0.54% compared to 0.57% in January 2017 Next release March 13th Monthly Inflation is High, But... Typically the monthly inflation rate is highest during the first quarter (January through March) and lowest during the last quarter (October through December). January 2017 had inflation of 0.57% and so January 2018's 0.54% is right in line with that (resulting in annual inflation of 2.07%). However if … [Read more...]
Inflation Up, NYSE New High
Current Inflation Situation On October 13th the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the Consumer Price Index inflation information for September. The CPI-U index was 246.819 up from 245.519 in August. This resulted in an annual inflation rate for the 12 months through September 2017 of 2.23% up from 1.94% in August, 1.63% in June and 1.73% in July. Monthly inflation was a whopping 0.53% for September primarily due to a 12% increase in gasoline prices due to refinery shutdowns in response to hurricanes. See our Annual Inflation Chart for more info. NYSE Makes New High in Inflation Adjusted Terms! To get a true picture of the state of the market it helps to look at the … [Read more...]
BLS Releases May Inflation Stats
May's monthly prices increase 0.51% but the annual inflation rate was still -0.04%. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released their monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) and Inflation report for the year ending in May on June 18th. This resulted in the 5th deflationary month in a row. We have seen a steady decline in inflation rates over the last year. May 2014 started with an annual inflation rate of 2.13%. June saw annual inflation fall to 2.07% then July declined to 1.99%, August was 1.70%, then September and October were both 1.66%, November was 1.32%, and December was 0.76%. When January rolled around it was … [Read more...]
What is the Misery Index?
The misery index was created by economists in an effort to quantify how bad the economy is based on cold hard numbers. In many ways, it can be argued that suffering is not quantifiable, after all how do you measure the pain associated with starvation, sickness, disease, homelessness, war, lawlessness and all the evils of society? But in economic terms economist Arthur Okun developed a simple but brilliant method of determining how miserable people were economically. The Misery Index and Unemployment The first component is unemployment. Okun reasoned that if a lot of people were unemployed, that would make the country as a whole feel poorer and so they would be less well off. Also a side … [Read more...]