CPI Report Comes In With a Bang

So, before we dive into today’s market-moving CPI report, I want to give you a quick recap of all the other big economic reports we got last week.

Productivity and labor costs: Revised higher than expected while labor costs for the quarter were revised down; both good signs when you’re looking to curb inflation.

Consumer credit: Lots of borrowing in October. Consumer credit continued to climb; the year-over-year growth rate is 6.9%, which is faster than 4.7% wage growth for the month. Strong sign of consumer demand.

Unemployment claims: Hit a 10-month high, due in part to a number of big layoffs at major companies. The 1.7 million jobless claims was slightly higher than economists were expecting, evidence that the strong labor market is softening.

Producer Price Index (PPI): Rose by 7.4% in November (year over year); that’s lower than the October growth rate (8.1%), but higher than what economists were forecasting for the month (7.2%). Inflation is falling… just slower than people were expecting.

University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment: Improved more than expected. Inflation concerns also fell to a 15-month low.

Which brings us back to today’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) report…

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