by Calculated Risk on 5/12/2021 11:17:00 AM

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% April. The 16% trimmed-mean Consumer Price Index rose 0.4% in April. "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 April here. Car and truck rental was up 505% annualized! Used cars and trucks were up 215% annualized.

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 2.1%, the trimmed-mean CPI rose 2.4%, and the CPI less food and energy rose 3.0%. Core PCE is for March and increased 1.8% year-over-year.

Note: We saw negative Month-to-month (MoM) core CPI and CPI readings in March, April and May 2020.  We also saw negative MoM PCE and core PCE reading in March and April 2020.  Although inflation picked up in April, the year-over-year change was impacted the base effect (decline last year).