Inflation

August's CPI Likely to Confirm Inflation Peaking

Aug 30, 2022 1 min read

August's CPI report will be released on September 13. It is likely to show that inflation is continuing to moderate. We know that the pump price of gasoline fell sharply this month (chart below). We also know that the wholesale price of used cars fell during August, suggesting that the CPI for used cars fell this month (chart below). These two components of the CPI were among the

Ed Yardeni

Powell's Fugetaboutit Speech

Aug 27, 2022 1 min read

Fed Chair Jerome Powell did pivot on Friday morning at Jackson Hole in his 8-minute speech on the outlook for monetary policy. He turned much more hawkish than the financial markets expected. In his short talk, he managed to walk back any hint of dovishness he might have conveyed during his previous public appearance in a press conference on July 27. Back then, his often ambiguous off-the-cuff responses to reporters

Ed Yardeni

NY & Philly Surveys: Weakening Business & Prices

Aug 18, 2022 1 min read

We now have two of the five regional business surveys conducted during August by the Federal Reserve district banks of NY and Philly: (1) NY was very weak, while Philly offset some of that weakness. The average of the two composites of business activity fell in August to -12.6, the lowest reading since the 2020 rebound from the lockdown recession. Collectively they suggest that August's M-PMI might

Ed Yardeni

Watching The Pump Price

Aug 12, 2022 1 min read

Everyone who drives a car or rides in one knows the price of gasoline on a daily basis. The sharp drop in this price during July fueled the rally in the stock and bond markets as investors concluded that it would help to moderate July's CPI and PPI, which it did as expected over the past two days. We will be watching this price along with everyone else

Ed Yardeni

Hooray: Inflation Cooled Off In July!

Aug 10, 2022 1 min read

July's headline and core CPI inflation rates were lower than expected at 0.0% and 0.3% (table below). The y/y rates were down to 8.5% and 5.9% below recent peaks of 9.1% (in June) and 6.5% in March). That's consistent with our view that inflation is peaking, but remains too high. So we expect that the Fed will hike the

Ed Yardeni

Mixed Inflation Indicators

Aug 9, 2022 1 min read

Today we learned that July's survey of small business owners showed that inflation might have peaked. On the other hand, there was no peak in today's productivity and unit labor costs report for Q2: (1) The small business owners survey found that 56% of them are raising prices, while 37.0% are planning to do so. Both are down from their peaks earlier this year. However,

Ed Yardeni

Inflation Expectations Looking Peakish

Aug 8, 2022 1 min read

July's survey of consumer expectations (SCE), conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of NY, had some good news for Fed Chair Jerome Powell and the financial markets too: (1) Median one- and three-year-ahead inflation expectations both declined sharply in July, from 6.8% and 3.6% in June to 6.2% and 3.2%, respectively. The press release noted: "Both decreases were broad-based across income groups, but

Ed Yardeni

The Economic Week Ahead, August 8-12

Aug 7, 2022 1 min read

It's a big week for inflation indicators. The fun starts on Monday, when the FRB-NY releases its July survey of consumer expectations for inflation over the next 12 months and 36 months. Falling gasoline prices last month might have reduced expectations for inflation a bit. Then on Tuesday, Q2's productivity and labor costs release is likely to show another big drop in the former and sharp

Ed Yardeni

Lots of Jobs, But Inflation Eroding Wage Gains

Aug 5, 2022 1 min read paid

July's payroll employment in July blew past forecasts, and there were upward revisions to the prior two months, boosting payrolls back up to pre-pandemic levels and a new record high. The bad news is that the wage-price spiral is still spiraling and reducing the purchasing power of consumers:

Ed Yardeni

The Best Cure For High Gasoline Prices

Aug 4, 2022 1 min read paid

The best cure for high gasoline prices is high gasoline prices. Gas prices have tumbled by 86 cents since hitting a record average high of $5.02 on June 14. Over the past month alone the national average is down by 65 cents. Americans cut back on driving when gas prices spiked above $5 a gallon. The 4-week moving average of gasoline usage dropped 9.5% to 8.6 million

Ed Yardeni

ECB Stuck Between A Rock & A Hard Place

Aug 3, 2022 1 min read paid

Soaring consumer prices and the prospect of energy rationing this coming winter have depressed consumer confidence in the Eurozone. No wonder that the volume of retail sale in the region fell 1.2% m/m and 3.7% y/y during June, suggesting that the risks of a recession in the Eurozone are increasing (chart below).

Ed Yardeni

Signs of Peak Inflation

Aug 1, 2022 1 min read

Today was a good day for those of us expecting to see peak inflation soon. July's US manufacturing purchasing managers (M-PMI) survey found that the M-PMI prices-paid index dropped to 60.0 from 87.1 in January. That's not surprising since the prices-paid and prices-received indexes that we compile from the five regional business surveys confirmed that inflationary pressures may be abating (charts below). That'

Ed Yardeni

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