Like anything else, currency is subject to the laws of supply and demand. Fiat currency, like the U.S. dollar, has a higher degree of flexibility than a hard currency. So when the federal government dumps trillions of fiat dollars into the economy, every one is worth less - and has less purchasing power. This is Economics 101, something that a lot of people in Washington would do well to learn. Clearly they haven't; the September Consumer Price Index (CPI) data is in, and it shows that Bidenflation is again worse than projections indicated.
The pace of price increases over the past year was higher than forecast in September while jobless claims posted an unexpected jump following Hurricane Helene and the Boeing strike, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
The consumer price index, a broad gauge measuring the costs of goods and services across the U.S. economy, increased a seasonally adjusted 0.2% for the month, putting the annual inflation rate at 2.4%. Both readings were 0.1 percentage point above the Dow Jones consensus.
The annual inflation rate was 0.1 percentage point lower than August and is the lowest since February 2021.
Excluding food and energy, core prices increased 0.3% on the month, putting the annual rate at 3.3%. Both core readings also were 0.1 percentage point above forecast.
Note that these numbers exclude food and energy, these being commodities that are subject to more seasonal variability. It's important to note, however, that these are also commodities that most of us deal with, if not daily, then certainly weekly. We feel our gasoline, home heating, and grocery costs very keenly, and all of those costs are up. Unemployment filings are also up, although some of that is doubtless fallout from Hurricane Helene:
Initial filings for unemployment benefits took an unexpected turn higher, hitting a seasonally adjusted 258,000 for the week ended Oct. 5. That was the highest total since Aug. 5, 2023, a gain of 33,000 from the previous week and well above the forecast for 230,000.
Speaking of food prices:
On the inflation side, rising prices across a variety of food categories showed that it is proving sticky.
Egg prices leaped 8.4% higher, putting the 12-month unadjusted gain at 39.6%. Butter was up 2.8% on the month and 7.8% from a year ago.
However, shelter costs, which have held higher than Fed officials anticipated this year, were up 4.9% year over year, a step down that could indicate an easing of broader price pressures ahead. The category makes up more than one-third of the total weighting in calculating the CPI.
With the election less than four weeks away, these are not numbers that the Harris/Walz campaign wants to see.
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Elections are frequently won and lost on the economy - there's a reason that "It's the economy, stupid" has been a political shibboleth since the '90s. This election will be no different, and despite Kamala Harris' constant harping about "turning the page," she's not the outsider here - she is a key player in the administration that made this mess. The Biden/Harris administration has been an economic disaster, and any possible Harris/Walz administration would just double down on stupid.
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