by Calculated Risk on 3/16/2016 11:16:00 AM
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Key Measures Show Inflation slightly above 2% in February
The Cleveland Fed released the median CPI and the trimmed-mean CPI this morning:
According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, the median Consumer Price Index rose 0.2% (2.8% annualized rate) in February. The 16% trimmed-mean Consumer Price Index also rose 0.2% (2.6% annualized rate) during the month. The median CPI and 16% trimmed-mean CPI are measures of core inflation calculated by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland based on data released in the Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) monthly CPI report.Note: The Cleveland Fed has the median CPI details for February here. Motor fuel was down 81% annualized in February.
Earlier today, the BLS reported that the seasonally adjusted CPI for all urban consumers fell 0.2% (-2.0% annualized rate) in February. The CPI less food and energy rose 0.3% (3.4% annualized rate) on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Click on graph for larger image.
This graph shows the year-over-year change for these four key measures of inflation. On a year-over-year basis, the median CPI rose 2.4%, the trimmed-mean CPI rose 2.0%, and the CPI less food and energy also rose 2.3%. Core PCE is for January and increased 1.7% year-over-year.
On a monthly basis, median CPI was at 2.8% annualized, trimmed-mean CPI was at 2.6% annualized, and core CPI was at 3.4% annualized.
On a year-over-year basis, three of these measures are at or above 2%.
Using these measures, inflation has been moving up, and three of the measures are at or above the Fed's target (Core PCE is still below).