• In 2012, Social Security Beneficiaries to Receive First Cost-of-Living Adjustment Since 2009

    The Consumer Price Index rose 0.3 percent in September, and at a 4.8 percent annualized rate over the last three months.  Core consumer prices slowed to 0.1 percent compared with 0.2 percent the previous two months.  Rounding hid much of the measured fall in core inflation as prices rose at a 0.7 percent annualized rate […]

  • CPI Rises 0.4 Percent in August

    The Consumer Price Index rose 0.4 percent in August and at a 2.6 percent annualized rate over the last three months.  By contrast, the CPI rose at a 4.6 percent rate from February to May and at a 5.6 percent rate the three months before that. Food and energy prices continue to push up overall […]

  • Bounce in Core Energy Prices Lead to 0.5 Percent Rise in CPI

    The Consumer Price Index rose 0.5 percent in July, following a 0.2 percent fall in June.  Over the last three months, headline inflation has run at a 1.8 percent annualized rate, compared with 6.2 percent from January to April.  Consumer prices less food and energy rose 0.2 percent last month.  Since April, these core prices […]

  • Falling Energy Prices Push Overall Inflation Below Zero in June

    Weak growth in hourly wages leaves little optimism for economic recovery. The Consumer Price Index declined 0.2 percent in June — the first fall in the broad measure since a 0.2 percent drop in June of last year.  The headline rate of inflation has declined steadily since peaking in March, but the decline is driven […]

  • 7 Things You Need to Know about the National Debt, Deficits, and the Dollar

    Introduction There are seven key points about the national debt, budget and trade deficits, and the dollar, that the public needs to understand in order to be well-informed and prepared to choose among various policy options: 1) The national debt is not literally a generational transfer.  This is easy to see because everyone who holds […]

  • CPI Rises 0.2 Percent

    The Consumer Price Index rose 0.2 percent in May — the slowest rate since November — as energy prices fell for the first time since last June.  The core rate of inflation ticked up to 0.3 percent and is now running at a 2.5 percent annualized rate over the last three months. Energy prices had […]

  • Consumer Price Index Up 0.4 percent in April

    The Consumer Price Index rose 0.4 percent in April and at a 6.2 percent annualized rate over the last three months.  Headline inflation continues to be driven in large part by rapid increases in energy prices — up 2.2 percent last month, and at a 42.8 percent annualized rate over the last three months as […]

  • Consumer Energy Prices Rise Rapidly, Though Crude Energy Slips 0.5 Percent

    The consumer price index rose 0.5 percent in March.  Over the last three months, headline inflation has run at a 6.1 percent annualized rate as food and, especially, energy prices have risen much faster than core prices.  Core inflation rose only 0.1 percent last month and at a 2.0 percent rate over the last three […]

  • Real Wages Fall for Third Consecutive Month

    The Consumer Price Index rose 0.4 percent in January while core prices rose only 0.2 percent.  Energy prices rose 2.1 percent in the month and were once again the main cause of the greater headline inflation.  By contrast, food prices have not seen high inflation.  Food prices rose 0.5 percent in January, but over the […]

  • Energy Prices Push CPI Up 0.5 Percent in December

    The Consumer Price Index rose 0.5 percent in December — the largest single-month jump since July of 2009, when the index rose 0.7 percent.  This rise in headline inflation is entirely attributable to a 4.6 percent increase in energy prices over the month.  Though energy accounts for less than one-tenth of the index, the price […]

  • CPI Edges Up 0.1 Percent

    The Consumer Price Index rose 0.1 percent in November.  Over the last three months, headline inflation has run at an annualized rate of 1.8 percent, compared to 1.7 percent in the previous three.  Despite November’s more moderate 0.2 percent rise in energy prices, the last three months have seen a 14.8 percent annualized rate of […]

  • Core Inflation Virtually Flat since July

    The Consumer Price Index rose 0.2 percent in October as the inflation in the price of energy rebounded to 2.6 percent in the month.  The overall price of core consumer goods and services remained virtually flat for the third consecutive month.  Over that time, the core rate of inflation has been only 0.2 percent, annualized. […]

  • Econ 101 Fail

    OK, folks.  It’s time for a refresher on basic national accounts.  Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is interested in reducing current account surpluses around the world without devaluing the dollar.  Good luck with that. Even worse, Geithner reiterated that the U.S. “will bring our fiscal position back to a sustainable balance.” Loosely speaking, our national income […]

  • The Impact of Income Distribution on the Length of Retirement

    Social Security has made it possible for the vast majority of workers to enjoy a period of retirement in at least modest comfort without relying on their children for support.  The average length of retirement has increased consistently since the program was started in 1937.  However, the increase in the normal retirement age from 65 […]

  • Continued Threat of Deflation

    The Consumer Price Index rose 0.1 percent in September as consumer energy price inflation slowed to 0.7 percent after gains of 2.6 and 2.3 percent in July and August.  Overall prices have grown at a 2.7 percent annualized rate over the last three months.  The core CPI remained unchanged over the month and has now […]

  • Largest Cuts in Local Government Jobs in 30 Years

    The economy lost 95,000 jobs in September — 77,000 of which were temporary Census positions — while the unemployment rate held at 9.6 percent.  Including downward revisions in payroll employment for July and August, there are 110,000 fewer jobs than reported one month ago. Though the overall rate of unemployment did not change in September, […]

  • House Sales Remain Weak in August

    The sales rate for existing homes in August bounced back slightly from the low hit in July, but it remains well below the tax-credit-driven pace earlier in the year.  Existing homes sold at a 4,130,000 annual rate in August.  This was 7.6 percent above the July rate, but was more than 20 percent below the […]

  • Core Prices Hold Steady in August

    The Consumer Price Index rose 0.3 percent in August, for the second consecutive month.  The rise is almost entirely attributable to the recent increase in energy prices, which jumped another 2.3 percent in the month.  Outside of food and energy, the core price index of consumer goods remained unchanged.  Over the last 12 months, core […]

  • After Three Months of Deflation, Modest Uptick in CPI

    The Consumer Price Index rose 0.3 percent in July, following three months of deflation.  Over the last two years since the peak in the CPI, prices have fallen 0.7 percent.  The rise in the overall rate of inflation was, in large part, due to a rebound in energy prices, which rose 2.6 percent in July. […]

  • US Economy: Inventory Accumulation Remains Significant Driver of Growth

    Gross Domestic Product grew at a 2.4 percent annualized rate in the second quarter of 2010.  Final demand from domestic sources contributed 4.12 percentage points to GDP — the largest quarterly contribution to growth since 2003. The largest contributor to final domestic demand came in fixed investment, which grew at a 19.1 percent annualized rate […]