Breaking Down The Inflation Numbers

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Annual Inflation Eases, Month-to-Month On The Rise

In June, inflation was at a 40-year high at 9.1%. In July, it dropped to 8.5%, leading the Biden administration to declare that things were definitely getting better, especially when you look at a month-to-month comparison rather than annual. However, while economists expected annual inflation to drop to 8.1%, most seemed surprised that it got stuck at 8.3%. What's more, the month-to-month comparison touted by the Biden administration last month showed a 0.1% increase from July to August.

Here are the key details:

Gasoline prices led the cooling in overall inflation in August, falling 10.6% over the prior month, but were still up by 27.1% over the 12 months ended in August.
Groceries up 0.7% over the prior month and food at dining establishments up 0.9%. They are also outpacing overall inflation by rising 13.5% over the past year.
Housing costs increased 0.7% in August over the prior month (it rose 0.5%). Shelter costs were also up by 6.2% over the prior 12 months. Both rent and the rent-equivalent measurement for homeowners advanced at the same rate.
Education costs jumped by 0.5% in August from the prior month on a seasonally adjusted basis, and daycare and preschool costs rose by 0.6% in August over the prior month.
New automobile prices rose by 0.8% in August over July and 10.1% over the prior 12 months. Motor vehicle insurance went up by 1.3% in August on a monthly basis, matching its sharp rise in July, and was up 8.7% over the past year. Meanwhile, used cars and trucks fell slightly over the month but were still up 7.8% over the prior year.

The markets did not react well to the news this morning.

A lot of today's stock market loss has to do with the fact that a bad CPI report means the Fed will accelerate its inflation-fighting measures. There are now rumors of a Fed meeting next week to possibly discussing raising rates by a full point soon.

But, Biden administration is out there claiming that prices have been flat for the past two months, so everyone is worried over nothing?

Biden Celebrates The Inflation Reduction Act

Meanwhile... the Biden administration is actually out celebrating the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act by touting all the things it would do... but none of which actually address reducing inflation.

But, thankfully, they have James Taylor singing at them. No, really.

The DOJ Issues Dozens Of Subpoenas To Trump Allies

Meanwhile, the Department of Justice is increasing the scope of its January 6 investigation and have issued subpoenas to a number of Trump allies. My RedState colleague Nick Arama posted a copy of the subpoena before most other outlets even acknowledged the subpoenas were happening. On his show last night, Tucker Carlson interviewed a woman who was not even at the Capitol on January 6 but was visited by the FBI because of her support of Trump.

Trump did score a legal victory, it would seem, yesterday when the DOJ agreed to one of his choices for special master to review the documents seized in the August raid of Mar-a-Lago. Judge Raymond J. Dearie would need to be approved by the judge in the legal battle between Trump and the DOJ.

Headlines Of The Day

Hear why 15,000 nurses decided to walk off the job (CNN)
Instagram Stumbles in Push to Mimic TikTok, Internal Documents Show (WSJ)
Editorial: John Fetterman needs to debate more than once for U.S. Senate (Washington Post)
The energy crisis has revived the coal market (Axios)
Tropics turn unusually quiet as Atlantic Basin reaches peak of hurricane season (NY Post)

Tweet Of The Day

Hurricane Preparation, What Are the Items You Didn't Think Of?

When there is word that a hurricane might threaten the Gulf Coast, we start thinking about what items we need to make life bearable if we end up stuck at home without electricity and internet.

In addition to these creature comforts, we also need to think about the many things that we would need to take with us if we are forced to evacuate.

While we all immediately think of things like prescription medicines and important papers, there are other things that can come in handy whether we will be stuck at home, at a relative's house, or in a shelter.

Lafayette Stores Your Parents Shopped At That Are Gone Now

I have been feeling very nostalgic lately, and when I get that feeling I often will browse the photos in the different collections on the Lafayette Memories Facebook page.