Analyst Predicts Lower Likelihood Of Higher-Than-Expected December CPI

According to BlockBeats, on January 14, Brent Donnelly, an analyst at Spectra Markets, discussed the implications of a weak Producer Price Index (PPI) on the Consumer Price Index (CPI). While a weak PPI does not always lead to a weak CPI, it often does. Recently, it has been unusual for the U.S. Department of Labor to release PPI data before CPI data in a given month, although this was common before 2018. Reviewing the past decade, when both overall PPI and core PPI were below expectations, as seen in the recent December data, the CPI exceeded expectations only 21% of the time. Donnelly noted that in such scenarios, the CPI met expectations 39% of the time and fell below expectations another 39% of the time. This suggests a lower likelihood that the December CPI data, set to be released this Wednesday, will surpass Wall Street's expectations. Economists had previously forecasted a 0.3% increase in consumer prices.