Bidenflation is here!
U.S. inflation surged to its highest rate since the eve of the 2008 financial crisis in April, as last year’s collapse in oil prices and a nascent economic recovery combined to generate the kind of number that many market participants have feared.
Get this, they EXCLUDE FOOD AND ENERGY PRICES. Everything is driven by energy so the inflation index, as bad as it is, is actually worse.
The consumer price index rose 4.2% from a year ago, according to government data released on Wednesday, well above consensus forecasts for 3.6%.
However, the 0.8% rise in prices in April alone made clear that the spike wasn’t entirely a result of distortions from last year, when crude oil prices briefly dipped below zero against a Covid-19-driven collapse in demand, Investing.com reports.
Even when stripped of some of their more volatile elements, the data were ugly: the core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.9% on the month, its biggest monthly rise since the early 1980s. That left core inflation running at a rate of 3.0%.
Cars and truck prices were a big part of the increase. They rose 10%. It’s the biggest rise since the government began tracking it in 1953.
Other items that the Department of Labor Statistics said had a big impact on the numbers were housing, airline fares, recreation, vehicle insurance, and household furnishings.
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The Feds still say it’s transitory, despite the Biden administration policies of wild spending and its attack on the energy sector.
The Fed has indicated it doesn’t expect a problem with the general level of prices, which it sees as different in nature from the abrupt shifts in relative prices for certain categories of goods and services as consumer spending patterns adapt to the reopening of the economy.
Meanwhile, employers can’t find help because it’s more lucrative to stay home and collect the Dem-inflated unemployment benefits.
“The outlook is bright, but risks remain, and we are far from our goals,” Fed s say.
“Trend PCE (inflation) is still below 2%,” said Roberto Perli, head of global policy research at Cornerstone Macro and a former Fed staffer, via Twitter. “The Fed won’t be impressed, even aside from temporary factors.”
Stocks took a tumble at the higher-than-expected increase in inflation.
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