CPI Report: Items Increased 5.4%, But Not All Experts Worry About Runaway Inflation

The new Consumer Price Index (CPI) report was released Tuesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the big headline is that all index items increased 5.4%.

Specifically, used cars and trucks increased in price by 10.5% in June, pushing prices up 45% in that sector over the year.

Other frequently mentioned noteworthy trends have continued as well, with gas and fuel prices netting 45.1% and 44.5%, increases respectively, over the year.

Overall, the CPI for all urban consumers increased .9% during June, the largest one-month change since June 2008, when prices rose by 1%. During the previous month, food increased .8%, with beef specifically rising 4.5%.

While the rise in prices may be intimidating for some, causing volatility in the market, a number of investors are less concerned about runaway inflation, as they anticipate the numbers cooling off over the next year.

“A white-hot June CPI print has the markets jittery this morning,”  Cliff Hodge, chief investment officer for Cornerstone Wealth, wrote in an email.

“Stripping away food and energy, it was the highest print for Core CPI since November 1991 on a year-over-year basis, however moving forward we expect these inflation numbers to begin to cool.”

Nancy Davis, portfolio manager of the Quadratic Interest Rate Volatility and Inflation Hedge ETF IVOL and founder of Quadratic Capital Management, said prices are rising in general mostly because of supply chain issues.

Demand is rising as economies have begun reopening, and supply is trying to catch up, something that consumers have been noticing for a while, she wrote. Ultimately, Davis said the CPI report is not the best measure of inflation, as it overestimates shelter.

“I believe investors have only just started to think about inflation,” she wrote in an email. “The 10-year Treasury yield is significantly below the rate of inflation and a continuation of that dynamic would likely create challenges for fixed income investors.”