ECB Faces a Problem: Euro Area Services Inflation Stuck at 4.0% for 13th Month. CPI Accelerates Further, as Energy & Durable Goods Stopped Plunging by Wolf Richter • Jan 17, 2025 • 21 Comments Inflation far from over. ECB risks throwing fuel on top of it.
The Fed Needs to Watch Out: Amid Strong Demand from our Drunken Sailors, Retail Sales Surged in Late 2024 and Inflation Caught its Second Wind by Wolf Richter • Jan 16, 2025 • 162 Comments More consumers, more workers, more jobs, more money. GDPNow jumps upon these retail sales.
Beneath the Skin of CPI Inflation: YoY CPI +2.9%, Worst since July, MoM CPI +0.39% (+4.8% Annualized), Worst since February. Core CPI Stuck for 7th Month at 3.1%-3.3% by Wolf Richter • Jan 15, 2025 • 88 Comments Categories that helped power the cooling of CPI are U-Turning – used & new vehicles, food, energy – just as housing seems to be coming in line.
PPI Inflation Accelerates to +3.3%, Driven by “Core Services,” +4.0%, both the Worst Readings in Nearly 2 Years by Wolf Richter • Jan 14, 2025 • 84 Comments 2024, the year of sharp acceleration. Services, accounting for two-thirds of PPI, are where inflation is festering and accelerating.
Why Used-Vehicle Prices May Put Upward Pressure on CPI, after Having Been a Powerful Contributor to Cooling Inflation by Wolf Richter • Jan 8, 2025 • 63 Comments The new-vehicle shortages of 2021-2022 now mean lower supply to the used-vehicle market, amid solid demand.
What Powell Said at the FOMC about Today’s PCE Price Index: “We Still Have Work to Do Though, Is How We’re Looking at it. We Need policy to Remain Restrictive to Get that Work Done” by Wolf Richter • Dec 20, 2024 • 42 Comments Inflation is still in services, no progress in 6 months. Another bummer: Durable goods deflation, a contributor to cooling inflation, may be over.
PPI, “Core” PPI, “Core Services” PPI Inflation Much Hotter after Whopper Up-Revisions Going Back Months by Wolf Richter • Dec 12, 2024 • 80 Comments The problem is in services, which account for 67% of PPI. But goods prices are re-accelerating too. The whole inflation scenario has changed.
Beneath the Skin of CPI Inflation: CPI & “Core” CPI Accelerate Further Month-to-Month, 3-Month Averages Heat Up for 4th Month. Year-over-Year, CPI Accelerates for 2nd Month by Wolf Richter • Dec 11, 2024 • 64 Comments On re-spiking motor vehicle prices, jumping food & gasoline prices. But housing inflation backs off.
Used-Vehicle Prices Turn into Inflation Headwind, after Historic 2-Year Plunge Helped Power the “Deceleration” of Core CPI by Wolf Richter • Dec 7, 2024 • 47 Comments Prices are rising again, amid tight supply, sharply reduced flow through the used-vehicle pipeline, and strong demand.
Cut the Price and They Will Come: New-Vehicle Sales Jump amid Big Discounts and Incentives, as Inventory Balloons by Wolf Richter • Dec 4, 2024 • 91 Comments But prices are still way too high, and automakers are not cutting them nearly enough.