Commentary
This morning’s release of April’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) data showing inflation had fallen from 5.0 percent in March to 4.9 percent annually was received as a disappointing reminder that inflation, while down from highs in the summer of 2022, is far from behind us.
Yet there is increasing evidence to support the suspicion that CPI does not represent the actual inflation that Americans face as they struggle with rising prices for everything they use, including education, health care, housing, food, and energy. The felt experience of many consumers is that CPI underestimates the real rising cost of living. This is not just an emotional or subjective reaction. It turns out that private sector and other data, such as regulatory filings, undermine the message and the data provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the U.S. government entity that manages the CPI….