New government data showed prices notching a monthly decline for the first time since April 2020, adding to an improving picture on inflation as the new year looms.
The Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index (PCE), one of two major readings on inflation, fell by 0.1% between October and November, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said Friday — the first monthly decline in more than 3 1/2 years.
Combined with other recent data showing disposable personal income and consumer sentiment rising, the United States’ economy appears to be heading into 2024 on strong footing even as it cools down. That has boosted expectations for a potential “soft landing” that reins in inflation without triggering mass layoffs or a recession.
The Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index (PCE), one of two major readings on inflation, fell by 0.1% between October and November
Oh thank god! A tenth of a percent! Everything’s affordable again! Champaign and caviar for all!
Only another 150% to go!
Aren’t we back to daily Starbucks?
I could never afford daily Starbucks to begin with. (Also, I think their coffee is awful.)
Oh no, did the orphan crushing machine get a little tuckered out?
“Sir, we can only count all these dollars so fast!”
“Fine, cut back consumer prices. But only 0.1% mind you!” (wrings hands and chuckles while imagining all the folks choosing between healthcare and food)
Sounds like an excuse for a company to double their margins
No they didn’t. I don’t care how they manipulated the data.
Yeah, the issue with consumer price index is that it can be manipulated. It’s just a price list for commonly bought items. But that list can be changed to suit the study.
The irony is that higher CPI increases GDP and capitalism. Many contracts define allowable year over year renewal price increase by the CPI.
The pathological inability some people have to not be able to accept any good news ever always surprises me.
The reported drop is probably inside margin of error.
When everywhere you look is full of bad news, it can condition someone into only accepting bad news and treating good news with intense scrutiny.
I will accept good news when I see good news. Hell the prices of groceries went up from Thanksgiving to now. I am buying many of the same items for Thanksgiving and Christmas Day and I can see the prices went up. How did your health insurance premiums change this year? Mine went up.
It’s because of decades of sensationalized news. It’s not pathological, it’s learned, and for good reason.
For example, a few months back I saw an article talking about how actually, inflation is over and prices are actually dropping… They just didn’t mention the fact that things like food and healthcare were still rising, and that actually most expenses for normal people were still going up
Both of those have gone up for me the last four weeks. Inflation is not over until the day my insurance premiums and grocery bills go down. Going up at a slower rate does not mean inflation is over. Going down means it is over.
Let me know when that happens and I will enjoy the good news.
No. Going down is called deflation and it’s fucking ruinous to the quality of life for people that have to live through it. Wages and prices always go up. When they mismatch, it hurts. But you don’t wish for them to go down. It’s a death spiral and nobody really knows how to reliably stop it.
Backwards logic right here of the economist
If people spend less on healthcare and food for the same product and services it will be “fucking ruinous”.
Yeah dog! Just go ahead and “do your own research” right? Fuggen “common sense” tells you what you need to know! No damned feckless eggheads telling YOU how shit actually works! All lies!!!
Basically yes. Economics has a predictive power of chance, bases their assumption on a sentient that has no relationship to humanity, prefers to avoid empirical evidence, and continues to advocate for ideas that benefit their employers.
The consensus among economists is that government bailouts of banks are a good idea while wiping out student loan debt is a bad idea. This really illustrates it well. Banks employee economists so economists defend them.
The narcissist’s final weapon, when they realize that all their gaslighting hasn’t worked and they sense they are about to be unmasked, is to actually loosen your chain a little bit — just enough to make you feel like it really wasn’t that bad all along.
But like, why? If it’s items of necessity we are talking about… just keep raising the prices, it’s not like we have a choice anyway right? Why would they cost themselves potential profits like that? Why would it matter if we figured it out?
Because we would go gentle into that good night. As long as things are going slowly bad no one is going to riot.
We do have a choice. It might not be obvious on forums like reddit, but housewives will adjust their spending habits based on price fluctuations.
It can be something as simple as buying generic brands instead of name-brand, or as significant as cutting products out altogether.
Vote with your wallets. It works, every time.
This is actually how it’s supposed to work. Everyone, stop buying things period! Only buy things used if you can. Prices have to come down to meet the demand. It’s the only way you can claw your value back.
Did they get tired of stealing?
I noticed Michelina’s microwavables went from $1.33 to $1.20
Still up from their price a few years ago of $1.
Chips are still absurdly expensive though (even more expensive than meat!), but I think that’s because people keep buying them no matter the cost.
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