In Depth Analysis: CalculatedRisk Newsletter on Real Estate (Ad Free) Read it here.

Friday, March 16, 2012

Key Measures of Inflation in February

by Calculated Risk on 3/16/2012 01:23:00 PM

Earlier today the BLS reported:

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.4 percent in February on a seasonally adjusted basis ... The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.1 percent in February
The Cleveland Fed released the median CPI and the trimmed-mean CPI this morning:
According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, the median Consumer Price Index rose 0.1% (1.7% annualized rate) in February. The 16% trimmed-mean Consumer Price Index rose 0.1% (1.3% annualized rate) during the month.
...
The CPI less food and energy increased 0.1% (1.2% annualized rate) on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Note: The Cleveland Fed has the median CPI details for February here.

Inflation Measures Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows the year-over-year change for these four key measures of inflation. On a year-over-year basis, the median CPI rose 2.3%, the trimmed-mean CPI rose 2.4%, and core CPI rose 2.2%. Core PCE is for February and increased 1.88% year-over-year.

These measures show inflation on a year-over-year basis is still above the Fed's 2% target, however on a monthly basis, the rate of increase was below the Fed's target.