Inflation

The Labor Department will be out tomorrow with one measure of inflation: the consumer price index. You can bet a lot of people are going be paying special attention to that number, because investors have made it clear they’re worried about rising prices. Meanwhile, although it turns out we can measure inflation, it is really […]

The plunge in the stock market this week has been widely ascribed to fears that inflation is coming. But for large parts of the American economy — namely, business — inflation is already here. From car companies to restaurant groups, American companies are paying higher prices for raw materials and ingredients. The Labor Department’s Producer Price Index […]

We are finally starting to see some signs that the tight labor market is pushing up wages. New numbers out today from the Department of Labor show wages and salaries in the private sector are up 2.8 percent from this time last year. That doesn’t leave too much extra cash for workers once you factor […]

The Consumer Price Index rose 0.1 percent in December from the previous month. The “core” inflation rate — excluding volatile food and energy prices — rose 0.3 percent month-to-month. That’s the largest increase since January 2017, and was higher than economists expected. But does it mean we’re beginning to see a serious uptick in inflation?  […]