The Consumer Price Index as we have talked about in class - Is the prices consumers pay for a wide variety of goods and services. Today, October 13th the CPI information was released and rose more than expected as inflation has weighed on the US economy. The CPI rose 0.4% in the month of September which is more than the expected 0.3% Dow Jones Estimate. This puts the year-over-year inflation at 8.2% which is not the highest its been but some of the highest levels since the 1980s. The Federal Reserve has been trying to combat inflation with its interest rate increases. This is significant because although the aggressive efforts from the Fed to get prices under control it still seems as if they can't. For context since March, the Fed has increased interest rates a full 3%. With today's CPI information released, we can expect that the Fed for the fourth consecutive month will increase the interest rates by .75% next time they meet November 1st-2nd. Although the Fed is trying its best - the consumer is still purchasing through inflation and on Friday Oct 14th the Commerce Department and Census Bureau release September’s retail sales report. The data, which is not adjusted for inflation, is expected to show a monthly increase of 0.3%, and no change when excluding auto sales. This makes it hard for the Fed to rebalance the economy if the spending habits of the American consumer are staying relatively the same despite inflation increases.
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/13/consumer-price-index-september-2022-.html
