For a few weeks in late January and early February, the U.S. economy seemed to have reached a rare sweet spot. Inflation was steadily slowing from painful heights. And growth and hiring remained surprisingly sturdy despite ever-higher interest rates imposed by the Federal Reserve.
It began on Valentine's Day. The government said its closely watched consumer price index had surged 0.5% from December to January — five times the increase from November to December. A look at the US economy's vital signs INFLATION Consumer inflation, not much of a problem, on average, since the early 1980s, started picking up in the spring of 2021 as the economy roared out of recession and Americans spent freely again. At first, Fed Chair Jerome Powell and some economists dismissed the resurgent price spikes as likely a temporary problem that would resolve itself once clogged supply chains had returned to normal.
Next came bad news from the inflation gauge the Fed watches most closely: The government's personal consumption expenditures price index. It accelerated 0.6% from December to January, far above the 0.2% November-to-December uptick. On a year-over-year basis, prices rose 5.4%, up slightly from the annual increase in December and well above the Fed's 2% inflation target.
Some economists expect the Fed to raise its benchmark rate by a substantial half-percentage point when it next meets March 21-22, after having announced only a quarter-point hike when it met Jan. 31-Feb. 1. The economy regained its footing last summer after enduring an anemic first half of 2022. The nation's gross domestic product — its total output of goods and services — contracted from January through March last year and again from April through June.
JOBS The remarkable strength of the American job market has defied expectations throughout the economic tumult of the COVID years. 2021 and 2022 were the two best years for hiring in U.S. government records dating to 1940. "The kind of wage gains we're seeing and the kind of tightness in the labor market is consistent with 3.5% to 4% inflation, not 2% or 3%,'' KPMG's Swonk said."That's the hard reality of where we are.''