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Last edited Mon Nov 17, 2025, 11:26 AM - Edit history (1)

Above is from the OP's linked MEDIAite article

Sigh. I guess this calls for the graphs again --

12 month aka year-over-year - the usual media/pundit measure of inflation



CPI data series: https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CUSR0000SA0
Click on "More Formatting Options", and on the page that appears,
Check the checkbox: "12-Month Percent Change"

YEAR: Jan Feb Mar etc. etc.
2024: 3.1 3.2 3.5 3.4 3.2 3.0 2.9 2.6 2.4 2.6 2.7 2.9
2025: 3.0 2.8 2.4 2.3 2.4 2.7 2.7 2.9 3.0


So in December'24 it was 2.9%, and in September'25 (the latest data) it was 3.0%. That's quite different than "about half" and "being fixed fast".

What's highlighted is that this measure has been rising for 5 straight months.

News report from the source: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm
CPI data series: https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CUSR0000SA0
CORE CPI data series: http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CUSR0000SA0L1E

========

Over the last 3 months, inflation has averaged an annualized 3.6% rate -- comparing the CPI index in September over its June value, and annualizing it. Just like what is commonly done in the quarterly GDP reports with both GDP and the GDP deflator.

Regular CPI


The rolling 3 month annualized average is slightly higher in September'25 (the latest data) than it was in December'24.: 3.54% in December'24 and 3.62% in September'25.

On a month-over-month basis, it is slightly lower -- using the actual index numbers for the calculation, it was 0.36% in December'24 and 0.31% in September'25, which is not "about half of what it was in December". It is 0.86 of what it was in December'24 -- about 7/8.

(The bar graph are the annualized numbers, not the actual raw month-over-month percent changes presented in the above paragraph)

But what the BLS and the media present in their main narratives and tables for month-over-month are rounded figures: 0.4% in December'24 and 0.3% in September'25. With the favorable rounding (Biden's number gets rounded up while tRump's number gets rounded down ) September'25 is 3/4 of what it was in December'24, not "about half"

You be the judge about the "being fixed fast" part.

Note to myself: the usual tiresome presentation: https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=3563862