Inflation Data Faces Credibility Questions: 'This Is Totally Inexcusable'

Market frustration with the November Consumer Price Index is not about how low inflation printed. It’s about whether the number can be trusted at all. The report showed that annual CPI inflation slowed to 2.7% in November from 3% in September. Indeed, this reinforces President Trump’s narrative that inflation is “essentially gone.” Yet economists and inflation watchers argue that the figure was mechanically distorte…