There’s Still No Inflationary Pressure in the Economy

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Autocratic forces are ascendant.

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Autocratic forces are ascendant in America. But truth-telling independent media is one remaining bulwark against the unrestrained exercise of power. At a time when billionaire owners of corporate media are making accommodations to political leaders, our nonprofit newsroom cannot be bought or broken. Please stand with us.

In case you like to keep track of this stuff, here are the inflation numbers for October:

Ordinary CPI ticked up to 2.5 percent thanks to higher gasoline prices. However, oil prices are tumbling as we speak, so this will come down next month. Core CPI, which doesn’t include either food or energy, fell a tenth of a point.

Ordinary CPI is, of course, useful if you want to know what ordinary people are actually paying for stuff. However, core CPI is more useful for gauging inflationary pressure in the economy. Right now, there just isn’t any. Core CPI has been hovering steadily around 2 percent for three consecutive years. Maybe someday that will change, but once again, that day is not today.