I went huh?
Serious? Tame US Inflation??
The Reuters News article wrote
- Wall Street liked America's April consumer inflation numbers, even though there was little in the Wednesday report to ease the pressure on Main Street wallets.
The Labor Department said that the Consumer Price Index jumped 0.2%, a bit less than the 0.3% gain economists had expected. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy costs, was up by 0.1%, also slower than general expectations for 0.2%.
Year-over-year consumer prices rose more modestly than forecast. Overall prices advanced 3.9% from April a year ago, and core prices were up 2.3%. Analysts were expecting a 4.0% advance in overall prices and an annual rise of 2.4%.
The Labor Department 's Consumer Price Index, the federal government's primary inflation yardstick, measures the prices of a mix of consumer goods and services such as transportation, energy, food and medical care.
Numbers aside, "better-than-expected" was all Wall Street wanted to hear. Stocks traded modestly higher late in the day and interest rates held steady in the bond market, with the 10-year Treasury issue yielding an unchanged 3.91%..
Len Blum, managing director of Westwood Capital, argued it would be difficult for an inflationary picture to develop because of the weak economic environment. Workers in many industries cannot push their wages much higher because their employers can easily shift production overseas.
Instead Blum was firmly focused on the continued economic slowdown. "We're a consumer driven economy but consumer can't borrow as they historically have with their homes," Blum said. "They're getting pressured with gas and food prices, and with earnings lowering, consumers are going to slow spending."
Blum observed that the 0.9% spike in food prices in April probably dampened the core CPI figure because consumers simply didn't have the cash to pay for nonfood items .
Last month's figures weren't the runaway disaster many had feared, but that only shows how rough things have become, as the U.S. economy deals with the twin problems of inflation and a slowdown. (See: "CPI Shows Inflation Is Still Chugging") In particular, energy prices have spiked by 15.9% over the past year, and food prices have gone up 5.1%.
U.S. mortgage application volume rose 2.9% during the week ending May 9, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly application survey. The MBA's application index increased to 674.4 during the week, compared with 655.4 one week earlier.
CNBC.com, however, carried a differing opinion, Tame Inflation? Tell That To People Buying Gasoline
- High gasoline prices got you down? Come to the land of seasonal adjustment, where the sun is always shining and gas prices fell 2 percent last month.
What? You paid more? Well, in the real world, gasoline prices did rise by a sharp 5.6 percent in April from a month earlier, but the way that the Bureau of Labor Statistics adjusts the figures to smooth out seasonal oddities, it appeared to be down in the consumer price index released Wednesday.
"The drop makes absolutely no sense. Where does the BLS buy their gas?" asked Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wachovia.
No, there is not a magical government gas station where pump prices remain below $3 per gallon while the national average stands at $3.72.
Another branch of the very same U.S. government, the Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration, said average retail gas prices actually shot up 9.5 percent in April from March.
So who's right? It has to do with how the Bureau of Labor Statistics compares current price trends with the norm.
Typically, gasoline prices rise sharply in April as the arrival of warmer weather encourages people to drive more.
The government data is adjusted to reflect that pattern so that it can highlight variations from the trend.
Because gas prices did not rise as much last month as they typically do in April, the seasonal adjustment showed that prices fell.
This is no consolation for consumers grappling with record-high gasoline prices that have curbed spending on other goods and services, adding another drag to an already sluggish U.S. economy.
"We don't feel great about paying less for seasonally adjusted gas. We feel bummed that we actually had to pay more for gas," said Kenneth Beauchemin, U.S. economist with Global Insight.
But the seasonal adjustments are a useful tool for economists because they eliminate factors that probably say more about the calendar than the health of the economy, he noted.
The data may also offer some peace of mind to Federal Reserve officials who have been increasingly wary of rising inflation.
Investors have begun to speculate that the central bank may be forced to raise interest rates as early as this year if price pressures continue to build.
Overall, the consumer price index rose by a smaller-than-expected 0.2 percent in April.
So-called core prices, which strip out food and energy costs, were up just 0.1 percent, half the increase that analysts had forecast.
Back in the unadjusted world, not only did gas prices rise sharply in April, but with oil hitting record highs on a regular basis, they are likely to keep climbing in the coming weeks.
That means May's CPI data may look less tame.
"We do not think that the market or the Fed should take false comfort from the data. We expect to see much worse numbers in both the headline and the core a bit down the road," said Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist with Merk Investments.
And it's incredible when the Bank of England is saying that the inflation should remain high. See the following video UK Inflation to Remain High...
And oh yeah, Food price surge in April
Oh yeah the markets liked the CPI numbers.
However, do note the differing opinions from the bond markets as yields remain relatively high.
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