The Consumer Price Index report for May 2012 was released today. As the mainstream media reports that the prices have fallen .3 percent, know that they are deliberately deceiving you. They are comparing apples to oranges to make it look like things are getting better. You know whether that is true. You live it every day.
Including energy, the total CPI score does show a .3 percent decrease in consumer prices. That is due primarily because of the falling price of gas. That is due to the falling demand for gas. And that is due to the depressed economy, rising unemployment, and generally less business, or any, activity overall. Depressing the economy is not the way to achieve lower prices at the pump.
The CPI that gets the media attention, because the BLS publishes it every month, is the one that does not include Food and Energy. It is called “All items less food and energy”. (After all, who needs to eat or get anywhere? ) You will find it near the bottom of page two.
It is there that you will see, comparing apples to apples, that the Consumer Price Index for May 2012 increased 2.3 percent over May of 2011. It also increased .2 percent, each month, over the last two months, March and April of 2012.
The full detailed report is below.
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Look a little deeper and you’ll see even more news. You know this to be true, even though you’re not reading about it. The BLS also tracks “Medical Care.” All sub-categories under Medical Care are up from 1.8 to 3.9 percent from May of last year. It is up .4 percent for March and up .5 percent for April of this year.The category “Hospital and related services” shows a 5.2 percent increase. And under Obamacare, it’s only going to get worse. Much worse.
