Consumer prices post biggest decline since 2008 as coronavirus puts clamps on inflation

[CountAllVotes]

Source: CNBC Market Watch

CPI shows 20% plunge in gas prices, airfares post record drop

The numbers: One thing anxious Americans don’t have to worry about as the COVID-19 pandemic shuts down large chunks of the economy is inflation. Consumer prices sank 0.8% in April, led by tumbling gasoline prices, marking the biggest decline since the 2008 Great Recession.

Economists polled by MarketWatch had also forecast an 0.8% drop.

Prices at the pump led the decline, the government said Tuesday. Stay-at-home orders kept Americans off the roads and curbed the need to fuel up. Yet prices also fell by record amounts for a variety of other goods and services as businesses cut prices in the face of waning demand.

The pace of inflation over the past 12 months slowed to 0.3% from 1.5% in March and 2.5% at the start of 2020, showing the crisis is putting severe downward pressure on prices despite an emergency infusion of $3 trillion in federal aid to support the economy.


Read more: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/consumer-inflation-posts-biggest-decline-in-april-since-2008-as-prices-sink-cpi-shows-2020-05-12

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Looks like a disinflationary shock as one person put it.

Oh babe it ain't no lie!

[marybourg]

1. My grocery and household items

have gone way up in price!

[MoonchildCA]

3. Yes! That's the first thing I thought of when I saw the headline.

[CountAllVotes]

4. Some are saying it is temporary due to hoarding --

Uh huh ................. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MoonchildCA]

7. Yes, sure it is.

Just like a few years back when prices went up due to the gas surcharge. I don’t remember seeing those drop again...

I mean, maybe, just maybe, they won’t still be able to charge $20 for an 8 oz. bottle of hand sanitizer.

[CountAllVotes]

19. I still cannot find any hand sanitizer

As for face masks, I think I may have hit the jackpot on those.

Found a bunch of 3M N95s for sale the other day.

Sold out now but I snapped up some of them when the opportunity presented itself!

[GreenPartyVoter]

8. Same here.

[RobinA]

14. The Minute

I saw that headline, I thought, "gas." Certainly not the grocery store.

[Bengus81]

31. The article clearly states that food prices are UP and up fairly large............

And other stuff like gas,airline tickets are down,some are way down.

[CountAllVotes]

2. eww boy ...

From the BLS

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm

>>A 20.6-percent decline in the gasoline index was the largest contributor to the
monthly decrease in the seasonally adjusted all items index, but the indexes for
apparel, motor vehicle insurance, airline fares, and lodging away from home all
fell sharply as well. In contrast, food indexes rose in April, with the index for
food at home posting its largest monthly increase since February 1974. The energy
index declined mostly due to the decrease in the gasoline index, though some
energy component indexes rose.

The index for all items less food and energy fell 0.4 percent in April, the
largest monthly decline in the history of the series, which dates to 1957. Along
with the indexes mentioned above, the indexes for used cars and trucks and
recreation also declined. The indexes for rent, owners’ equivalent rent, medical
care, and household furnishings and operations all increased in April.

[FoxNewsSucks]

5. Food cost shot up, gas went down

They cancel each other out statistically. Problem is, which do people need to buy more of.

I had to replace a broke-down car in December, didn't mind too much, since it was over 250k miles and I was planning to replace it this summer or fall anyway. Right now, I could have get a similar car two years newer for about the same price. And it was a pretty good deal at the time.

So I guess people who need cars and gas have it made right now, and the people who need food are screwed.

[machoneman]

20. True! If your not driving at all or very little, even $1.00 ga. gas doesn't save you any $$$.

Food here in SW suburban Chicago is going up.

[CountAllVotes]

21. Bread at over $6 a loaf!

I had a bread machine once upon a time. It was a pricey item and when the one-year warranty was up, so was the bread machine.

I need to get with it again. I have made my own sourdough bread in the past and yes, I CAN do it again.

Work is what it requires and little else to keep it going. I may get some starter today and to hell with these jacked up prices.

[Ford_Prefect]

6. Price at our pump is down $0.66 from Feb. that's -28%. But some groceries have gone the other way.

Although I'm not driving as much as in Feb. I'm spending a lot more on food than I was then.

Has anyone else seen the same kind of change?

[CountAllVotes]

9. Similar situation here

Gasoline was at $3.59/gallon. Now at $3.09/gallon. Drop of $.50 a gallon. Big deal.

I have not put gasoline in my car in over 3 mos. now.

As for food, ugh! I had a $375 bill at the local Safeway.

I came home with my "load of stuff" and when I announced the price the reply was, "Where is everything anyway?".

Jacked up prices, *mistakes* on the sales receipts that they are too busy to address, etc. etc. etc.

We are screwed that's what I think.

[Igel]

35. Where I live, gas was 2.39 in early March.

Two days ago at a place I don't go to but pass from time to time had it for 1.39.

I last tanked up 3/6. Friday before spring break.

[roamer65]

10. Take out restaurant prices are definitely up.

[AirmensMom]

11. Seriously?

The price of everything we buy except for gas has gone up astronomically. Our food budget is being blown even though nothing has changed for us.

[CountAllVotes]

12. I haven't been buying anything extra

The food bill is literally killing me and no, we do not eat out or get pick-ups.

We did it one time and it was $27.00 for a hamburger w/fries and a shake take-out!

No more of that!

[AirmensMom]

22. I've actually compared old receipts.

And, yes, things are going up. I don't care what the economists are saying. They maybe ought to talk to the grocery stores.

We buy a packaged gluten-free bread mix that has doubled in price in the last year. So I've been playing with my own recipe. It's not rocket science. But at one time, it was worth it to buy the mix. No more.

[CountAllVotes]

23. It is simply NOT affordable!

Sure the stimulus check helped but gone gone gone it is now!

Doesn't take much to spend $1200!

As for that little lunch out, that was with a senior discount and NO tip!

Holy hell!

I remember going to this same place when I first moved here. It was $3 for a hamburger and $5 for a hamburger with fries and a shake! Now at the *senior discount price* of $13.50!

Damn, time to get that starter going again.

Recipe is in the old Joy of Cooking (1975) FYI!

[AirmensMom]

26. That's what I'm saying.

We are eating the same as we did before, except that my husband is skipping his $10/week Saturday morning breakfast. It doesn't cost us $10 to make breakfast, so it should be a win for us, right? And we'd go out after haircuts once/month for about $35. Dinner doesn't cost us $35 to cook. So that should be a win for us too. We tend to rotate the same meals, so no difference there. The difference is that grocery prices have gone way up. That's in the store. The online grocery prices are ridiculous now, even at places where they used to beat the local prices.

Other prices have as well. We ordered a new SDD for a computer a month ago and that same SDD is $20 more now.

Know what hasn't gone up? Interest in our meager savings account. It's just pennies every month now. I guess we're lucky we have anything at all in there.

[Sunlei]

13. meanwhile the 8? large banks enjoy about a 2% profit from every debitcard transaction

across America- while offering their account holders point01 'interest earning' accounts.

[IronLionZion]

15. Complete BS. This is just from low gas prices and oil prices.

[CountAllVotes]

16. It will change believe me

The food prices have no where to go but UP!

As for gasoline, it isn't abt. to change where I am located in no. Calif.!

Sickening situation at best!

[IronLionZion]

17. Demand for oil cratered

since people stopped driving, flying, etc. and Saudi decided to continue their price war in an attempt to kill off their higher priced competitors like the US and Russia. Demand will come back up eventually and so will fuel prices.

Food prices have related issues with farmers losing money from disrupted supply chains keeping them from getting it to consumers, so they would plant fewer crops going forward. Those problems may take a longer time to sort out. It's absolutely deplorable that good food is being dumped in the garbage in some areas while others face shortages. It's also deplorable that sacrificial workers are getting infected and dying from unsafe working conditions.

[CountAllVotes]

18. Actually ....

I am thinking abt. selling my car and buying and electric something or the other to get around in.

I don't really need a car any more.

It has 50K on it and is 20 years old.

Shows what an exciting life I live! (not)

[DrToast]

33. Except prices are down -0.4 excluding food and energy

[IronLionZion]

34. 0.4% is not that much

Clothes, auto insurance, hotel rooms and plane tickets all showed record price drops. Passenger fares sank 15% prices as traffic at airports nose-dived more than 90%.

[DrToast]

36. It's the largest decrease on record

A key measure of U.S. consumer prices declined in April by the most on record as travel and apparel spending collapsed during the coronavirus pandemic.

The core consumer-price index, which excludes volatile food and fuel costs, fell 0.4% from the prior month after a 0.1% decrease in March, Labor Department figures showed Tuesday. That’s the biggest drop in data back to 1957. Compared with April of last year, the core CPI rose 1.4%, the smallest annual gain since 2011.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-12/u-s-core-consumer-price-index-posts-record-0-4-monthly-decline

[CountAllVotes]

24. I am getting fat as a pig!

Seriously I am.

No more fruit or vegetables.

Its been Cliff Bars and nuts, lot of nuts, for the past two months.

This = fatso hell. Can barely get into my Perfect Fit pants these days (great pants -- fit you no matter what you weigh .... well usually that is!).

= FAT!

[Baclava]

25. I can still get a large sausage, pepperoni, mushroom pizza for $9.99, I'm good

[CountAllVotes]

27. WHERE!!!!?????

TELL ME RIGHT NOW!!!!

I, YES I, MUST KNOW RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!

[Firestorm49]

28. Not Amazon! I've seen many cases where their prices have jumped substantially.

[durablend]

29. Nothing I'm buying is cheaper

And gas is slowly creeping back up

[DENVERPOPS]

30. Three thoughts

Groceries??????????

And if we go down in the CPI, they will just use it against workers, SSI, etc etc that use the CPI for increases/decreases.

And get ready for the future costs of Health Care, and the masses who won't be able to afford the prices of health insurance now, much less the inevitable increases in the near future.......

Think about all the people who have health insurance through the companies they work for. Or did until becoming unemployed. Tens of Millions are going to be losing their health care insurance fringe benefit.
Trump & RepubliCONs in the Senate have already openly stated that their next great obliteration will be Obama care for the 50 Million who are on it.............

It is a true CABAL they have formed and executed.......

[CountAllVotes]

32. I know deep shit is coming my way

The place that disability retired me ($50/mo. + benefits) sent me a letter that was so scary I deleted it.

It has not affected me *yet* but next year, I'll have no way in hell to cough up $1K a mo. for the supplement to Medicare policy they are paying for at the moment!

We are so screwed as a Nation as a whole!

No one will escape.

Not even the rich with Wealth as their Master are exempt from COVID-19. Nope.