The news isn't good. The PPI is on the rise. (MSNBC)
WASHINGTON - Battered by bad economic news, consumer confidence plunged while wholesale food, energy and medicine costs soared, pushing inflation up at the fastest pace in a quarter century.
The Labor Department said Tuesday that wholesale inflation jumped by 1 percent in January, more than double the increase that analysts had been expecting.
The next paragraph isn't about inflation, but isn't great either...
Meanwhile, the New York-based Conference Board reported that its confidence index fell to 75.0 in February, down from a revised January reading of 87.3. The drop was far below the 83 reading that analysts had forecast and put the index at its lowest level since February 2003, a period that reflected anxiety in the lead up to the Iraq war.
And on another note, I was revising my homework solutions for my principles of macro course this semester. I always ask students to find the most recent rate of inflation by the CPI (12 month % change). Last semester, the answer was 2.0% at the time I asked the question. The answer now? 4.4%. (4.3% not seasonally adjusted)
Uh oh.
What do you think about February, 2009? > or <
I would characterize myself as less optimistic about inflation than most of the Fed's rhetoric.