CONSUMER PRICE INDEX: MAY 2004 increased 0.6 percent

[papau]

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

CONSUMER PRICE INDEX: MAY 2004 increased
0.6 percent

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased
0.6 percent in May, before seasonal adjustment, the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The May level
of 189.1 (1982-84=100) was 3.1 percent higher than in May 2003.

The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers
(CPI-W) increased 0.7 percent in May, prior to seasonal adjustment. The
May level of 184.7 was 3.0 percent higher than in May 2003.

The Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U)
increased 0.4 percent in May on a not seasonally adjusted basis. The May
level of 110.1 (December 1999=100) was 2.4 percent higher than in May
2003. Please note that the indexes for the post-2002 period are subject
to revision.

CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U)

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the CPI-U rose 0.6 percent in May,
following a 0.2 percent increase in April. Energy costs advanced sharply
in May--up 4.6 percent. Within energy, the index for petroleum-based
energy increased 7.7 percent and the index for energy services increased
1.1 percent. The index for food rose 0.9 percent in May, following
increases of 0.2 percent in each of the three preceding months. Prices
for dairy products rose 6.8 percent, accounting for about half of the 1.4
percent rise in the index for food at home. The index for all items less
food and energy, which increased 0.3 percent in April, rose 0.2 percent in
May. A deceleration in shelter costs--up 0.2 percent in May after
advancing 0.5 percent in April--was responsible for the smaller May
advance.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=568&ncid=749&e=3&u=/nm/20040615/bs_nm/economy_cpi_dc

May CPI Seen Rising by 0.4 Pct

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The May Consumer Price Index (news - web sites) (CPI) is expected to rise by a median reading of 0.4 percent, compared with a 0.2 percent rise in April.

Excluding volatile food and energy items, so-called core prices likely rose by 0.2 percent versus a 0.3 percent rise in the previous month, according to a Reuters survey.


Of the 22 U.S. Wall street analysts and investment banks polled on June 10, the high reading for CPI was 0.7 percent and the low was 0.3 percent. <snip>

[rogerashton]

1. A lot of that was "volatile components."

"Core inflation" actually slowed, though probably not significantly.

From BLS:

"The index for all items less food and energy, which increased 0.3 percent in April, rose 0.2 percent in May. A deceleration in shelter costs--up 0.2 percent in May after advancing 0.5 percent in April--was responsible for the smaller May advance."

[papau]

3. True - but shelter under Bush is more rent/ less sales price driven

and rent increases will hit in Sept and again in Jan unless the new seasonal adjustments smooth them out.

Also who sees food or energy decreasing in the future?

[Timefortruth]

4. This is such a hoot.

To keep things looking stable they take out all the stuff consumers actually spend money on, or a huge chunk of their budget on, food and energy.

[rogerashton]

10. Because they fluctuate much more from period to period.

Which means they are less likely to lead to chronic inflation.

Hey -- those are the facts. Check 'em out.

[gWbush is Mabus]

2. After you make the necessary propaganda adjustments...

I believe the correct formula is:
inflation x 3

Therefore, if the gov't says 0.6% inflation, then it is really 0.6 x 3 = 1.8% inflation

[papau]

5. Why not multiply a month by 12 to get annual rate? Say 7.2%? (or 21%?)

I wonder if the the Fed will screw the nation as it tries to to help Bush - and only raise the rate by 0.25 this month?

[nolabels]

6. Government Economic Data Statistical Wizardry and Manipulation

They lie and deceive at just about everything else, would it be a good idea to give the benefit of the doubt with this stuff?

http://mwhodges.home.att.net/statistic-wizardry.htm

B. Government Economic Data Statistical Wizardry and Manipulation
(some call it 'economics on steroids,
with no economic equivalent of an Olympic drugs testing agency')

The same is happening to the ways we measure performance of our economy, compared to the past and compared to other nations. Words like 'great productivity' or 'lowest inflation ever', low unemployment, etc., etc., which sound good to some people, are actually most misleading, compared to the past.

I have followed developments of major changes in recent years being made regarding how key indicators are measured and reported - - such as for GDP, national income, inflation, productivity, savings, and other important economic items. Criteria changes in the 1990s have been most dramatic, and the truth about the validity of those changes is now coming out. Basically, many of today's economic measurement items have no relation to the past. Such gives a false sense of economic matters appearing better off than they actually are, when compared to the past. This causes many to make wrong decisions regarding current economic trends - - potentially a very dangerous situation.

There are laws requiring financial accountability that Congress routinely ignores, such as the Chief Financial Officers Act and the Government Performance and Results Act. For the past five years, the General Accounting Office has been unable to issue an opinion on the government's consolidated financial statements because of certain material weaknesses in internal control and accounting and reporting issues. "These conditions prevented us from being able to provide the Congress and American citizens an opinion as to whether the consolidated financial statements are fairly stated in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles," the report stated.

"As members of Congress make political hay with corporate America's accounting scandals, their own financial mismanagement continues to dwarf those companies they excoriate. While securities regulation and criminal justice bring corporate culprits to justice (raising the question of whether more laws are really necessary), Congress violates its own management rules and standards on a daily basis. Congress annually passes supplemental spending bills to circumvent budget caps, calls them "emergency" spending bills and says the expenditures do not count against the budget totals for the year. Over the past five years, lawmakers have spent a total of $142 billion above the levels in the corresponding budgets. That's more than 12 times the misstated figures from Enron, Xerox, and WorldCom combined." (Scripps Howard News Service - July 2002).

Five (5) articles regarding economic statistical wizardry follow - - and then one about trust funds - -
(snip)

[papau]

9. Very interesting reading - thanks for the link :-)

:-)

[rogerashton]

11. if the same rate were to persist

for 12 months, it would be compounded.

the formula would be

(1+rate)exp12 -1 --

which would be a good deal more than 12 times rate, in this case.

But that won't happen. That's why the .2% "core" rate is the more important one.

[papau]

7. largest gain since January 2001 first 5 months = 5.1% annual inflation

Consumer prices - stoked by more expensive energy and food products - registered their largest increase in more than three years last month, a strong sign that inflation is springing back to life.The increase posted in May was slightly larger than the 0.5 percent advance that some economists were expecting and represented the largest gain since January 2001. Energy prices rose by the largest amount since the beginning of this year and food costs had their biggest increase in more than 14 years. For the first five months of this year, consumer prices rose at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.1 percent, far exceeding the 1.9 percent increase for all of last year. Core prices, meanwhile, increased during the same period at a rate of 2.9 percent, also faster than the 1.1 percent advance registered for 2003.

Isn't it good to see that our corporations that cut workers and refuse raises are - as Greenspan said at an international monetary conference last week - seeing a swing from "heavy business price discounting to the restoration of a significant degree of pricing power."


Oh, by the way, some of that GDP growth is unsold inventory - business inventories rose by 0.5 percent in April as sales dipped by 0.1 percent, the Commerce Department reported today.

[nolabels]

12. Of course then we also have these other people on the other side..........

They couldn't see the nose on the front of their face. Here in SoCal the price of gasoline has more than doubled in the last 3 or 4 years, but that's not inflation, that's just something else. Many things have gone up, but without a government or some other means to keep track of of it who would know?

http://www.thestreet.com/markets/rebeccabyrne/10166004.html

Inflation Fears Look Inflated

By Rebecca Byrne
TheStreet.com Senior Writer
6/15/2004 12:10 PM EDT
Click here for more stories by Rebecca Byrne

Investors have exaggerated the threat of inflation and the possibility of an aggressive interest rate hike later this month, some economists said after the release of the consumer price index Tuesday.

The CPI rose 0.6% in May, slightly above consensus estimates due to a big jump in energy prices. But the core rate, which excludes food and energy, climbed just 0.2%, in line with expectations.

"It doesn't look like inflation is getting out of control," said Gary Thayer, chief economist at A.G. Edwards & Sons. "I think the Fed is still going to be able to maintain a measured pace, as they say."

The odds for a 50-basis-point rate hike at the June meeting had been growing in recent weeks after Federal Reserve Chief Alan Greenspan said the central bank is "prepared to do what is required" to stem inflation, and various Fed officials repeated this claim
(snip)

[MallRat]

8. Still no PPI numbers yet, huh?

I'm cringing.

:scared:

-MR

[tom_paine]

13. Many do you know how much this REALLY MEANS CPI went up?

At least 2%!

[StopThief]

14. Ummmm. . . . . .

Urban.

[nolabels]

15. Come on, we are just having fun here, do you really think we believe......

Any of this tripe that comes out of the great Wurlitzer :D

http://www.herbanstylz.com/
Herban Stylz Hip Hop and Urban Clothing