by Calculated Risk on 11/17/2016 11:19:00 AM
Thursday, November 17, 2016
Key Measures Show Inflation close to 2% in October
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% (2.1% annualized rate) in October. The 16% trimmed-mean Consumer Price Index also rose 0.2% (2.2% 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 released the median CPI details for October here. Motor fuel was up 122% annualized in October!
Earlier today, the BLS reported that the seasonally adjusted CPI for all urban consumers rose 0.4% (4.4% annualized rate) in October. The CPI less food and energy rose 0.1% (1.8% 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 2.5%, the trimmed-mean CPI rose 2.0%, and the CPI less food and energy rose 2.1%. Core PCE is for September and increased 1.7% year-over-year.
On a monthly basis, median CPI was at 2.1% annualized, trimmed-mean CPI was at 2.2% annualized, and core CPI was at 1.8% annualized.
Using these measures, inflation has generally been moving up, and most of these measures are close to the Fed's 2% target (Core PCE is still below).