November 14, 2023
I mean – I don’t want to jinx it – but maybe – just maybe – inflation is going in the right direction.
After going up in September, inflation stayed flat in October according to the brand new Consumer Price Index report. Flat means it didn’t go up or down in the month of October…it’s the same. So the report showed 0.0%. But when we talk about October 2022 vs October 2023, inflation is up 3.2%. That’s a smaller increase than the 3.7% year over year increase we saw in September.
And before I get into the specifics of why you’re probably not feeling this decrease in prices – I want you to know that this report lists literally every single item we eat, drink, purchase, and use and how much it’s either increased or decreased and if you want to read that report, I will email it out to you tonight in my news girl news roundup email so make sure you sign yourself up.
Now – here’s the problem and a reason why you may not be feeling this easing of prices.
Shelter.
It jumped up 6.7%! That’s a huge increase in a sector that you feel in your wallet every single month. It’s the largest factor in why we aren’t seeing a bigger drop in inflation for October.
The other issue is food – it’s up more than the overall inflation for the month. Food at home and food away from home was up 3.3% over last year and point-three percent over September. But – it’s worth pointing out eggs are down 22.2% over last year.
But on the positive side – energy –overall—is down 4.5% between October 2022 and October 2023. That includes a 5.3% decrease year over year in gas prices. Natural gas for your home is down 15.8% over last year. In fact – I told you all about how your natural gas bill will likely be much less this winter in this video a few weeks ago.
So the question now is – is this report good enough for the Federal Reserve to pause interest rates again during their last meeting of the year. As I told you in this video, The Fed chair says he’s keeping the door open to a possible interest rate increase in December and there is almost no chance of a rate cut. But, if all the other economic reports we’re waiting on look like they’re trending in the same direction as this report– it is very possible we could get another interest rate pause in mid-December.
Read the CPI report for October here.
