Beneath the Skin of CPI Inflation, February: Inflation Saga far from Over, Core CPI & Core Services in Ominous 6-Month Trend

By Wolf Richter –  WOLF STREET

The “core services” CPI (services minus energy services) is crucial. The majority of consumer spending goes to core services, and Powell keeps talking about it. Core services includes housing costs, expressed in rent factors. And people, including Powell, have been saying that rents will eventually come down, we know that, etc., etc., so we also look at core services without housing. And both measures have been re-heating for months – with both their six-month moving averages approaching 6% annualized!