#inflation

#inflation

Certain folks would like to tell you that inflation is cured. And in some ways, if you track inflation by the Consumer Price Index, there is some truth to the thesis that the cost of living has returned to its normal, modestly upward path. Ponder a California inflation index from my trusty spreadsheet, which averaged four decades' worth of annual changes in regional price indexes for Los Angeles-Orange County, San Diego and San Francisco.

The US dollar remained in a consolidation phase on Thursday, holding close to multi-week highs. Inflation data released on Wednesday painted a broadly stable picture. Producer prices increased moderately on the month. Taken together with earlier CPI data, inflation trends appear neither re-accelerating nor cooling decisively. Retail sales provided a contrasting signal, rebounding strongly in November. Improved consumer spending, suggesting household demand remains relatively healthy, limiting immediate downside risks to growth.

Following a slightly lower than predicted rise in the Consumer Price Index yesterday, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday that the Producer Price Index likewise rose less than expected in December. By this measure, the annual inflation rate in December was 3%, and core inflation (which doesn't count food and energy prices) rose at a 3.5%. Both these numbers were higher than the rises in the CPI, however. Month-on-month, the PPI rose 0.2%, less than the predicted 0.3%.

The economy is wild in America right now. From inflation to shrinkflation, and of course, we can't forget eggflation. It seems these days, even the once most affordable food items - like the egg, which was previously priced at around $2 for a dozen at my local grocery store, are now $6. I mean, even the dollar menu has disappeared from most fast food joints.

When discussing affordability, it is important to note that while the CPI price level has increased 26% since 2019, wages have increased 30%,

As the MTA prepares to increase the transit fare to $3 on Jan. 4, pizza prices across town are substantially higher than the cost to ride the train. The typical price of a plain slice of pizza in New York City now approaches $4, according to a decadelong survey of hundreds of slice joints conducted by this reporter across the city. Pizzamakers and experts who have followed the rising prices point to the COVID-19 pandemic and rising inflation as the cause of the increasing disparity between the price of a subway ride and that of a regular slice of pizza.

Slower job growth. Just look at the November employment report - very soft if you average the last couple of months. But real earnings growth, average hourly earnings growth, up 3.7% on a year-on-year basis. And that helps to weather a little bit of this inflation pressure that we are feeling right now. And I think that's the true storyline.

Everything is very difficult, there's a lot of uncertainty, says Venezuelan taxi driver Jose Luis Ledezma, who works in Caracas. Ledezma has been hit hard by the collapse in trips to Maiquetia airport, his most common route. I used to do six trips a day to the airport. Now, if I do three a week, that's a lot, he explains. I work with people of all ages, from wealthy people to very poor people. I see nervousness.

The biggest challenge facing Americans right now is the cost-of-living crisis, according to Statista's recent Consumer Insights Survey. The poll, conducted in June and July 2025, revealed that 49% of U.S. adults said that the high cost of living was one of the biggest challenges they currently face. Despite inflation cooling, prices have remained high, with Statista noting that, even with inflation cooling down, it leaves a legacy of high prices.

Consumers confidence in the economy was shaken in December as Americans grow anxious about high prices and the impact of President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs. The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell 3.8 points to 89.1 in December from November's upwardly revised reading of 92.9. In April, when Trump rolled out his import taxes on U.S. trading partners, the reading was 85.7.

AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta President Donald Trump took a victory lap over and credited his tariff-heavy trade policy for the promising economic news announced on Tuesday. According to the Department of Commerce, the economy grew at an annualized rate of 4.3% between July and September, a two-year quarterly high. It also easily outstripped the 3.2% growth rate forecasted by economists polled by The Wall Street Journal, which provided additional context on the data: The data show the economy growing

Case in point: Ina new CBS News/YouGov poll, 61% of U.S. adultssay President Trump makes prices and inflation sound better than they really are. Trump's approval rating on the economy sat at 37%, just one point higher than a month earlier,in the poll of 2,300 adults. Respondents were more than twice as likely to say Trump's policies, notformer President Biden's, are responsible for the economy.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. ( NYSE: CMG) cut its full-year forecast for same-store sales during its third-quarter earnings report, citing changes in consumer spending. This resulted in some Wall Street analysts lowering their price targets and the stock pulling back around 20% to a new 52-week low of $29.75. The share price is 27.8% lower than six months ago, underperforming the S&P 500 in that time.