US inflation only held up by housing

Advertisement

US inflation came in low. Services are still running hot, but that is mostly driven by housing costs. It would seem that the housing costs in CPI are probably overstated. See tables:

Advertisement

Rental inflation, the largest part of services inflation, is still running hot in the report. This is at odds with what participants are reporting:

It is a factor of how rents are calculated in the inflation numbers, reflecting that rental contracts don’t all expire each month and so the current numbers are only gradually added to the inflation report.

Advertisement

Net effect: 3 month annualised inflation is at 1.1%. And even that is held up by overstated housing inflation. Sure, it includes some big energy declines, but there is little in today’s report to suggest inflation is a concern.

————————————————-

Damien Klassen is Chief Investment Officer at the Macrobusiness Fund, which is powered by Nucleus Wealth.

Fill out my online form.

Follow @DamienKlassen on Twitter or Linked In

The information on this blog contains general information and does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. Past performance is not an indication of future performance. Damien Klassen is an Authorised Representative of Nucleus Advice Pty Limited, Australian Financial Services Licensee 515796. And Nucleus Wealth is a Corporate Authorised Representative of Nucleus Advice Pty Ltd.