Shoppers in Troy, Michigan, on Nov. 25, 2022.Matthew Hatcher/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesInflation was lower than expected in November amid a broad-based slowdown in consumer prices that have been rising at their fastest rate in decades.The consumer price index, a key inflation barometer, jumped by 7.1% in November from a year earlier, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said Tuesday. Economists expected a 7.3% annual increase.related investing news an hour agoThe CPI reading for November was the smallest 12-month increase since December 2021, and down from 7.7% in October.”Across the board, we saw a moderation of inflation,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. “That’s what’s most encouraging. It’s not one or two special factors.”Economists are closely watching one numberA decline in the annual inflation rate doesn’t mean prices fell for goods and services; it just means prices aren’t rising as quickly.Monthly changes in inflation generally provide a more accurate gauge of near-term trends (i.e., if inflation is speeding up or slowing down) than the annual rate.That’s especially true of “core inflation,” which strips out price trends in food and energy, like gasoline, heating oil and electricity.While many Americans feel those price changes acutely — given food and energy are household staples — they’re volatile categories more beholden to the whims of global economic forces and which largely can’t be controlled by U.S. policymakers. Take the war in Ukraine, for example: Russia’s invasion roiled oil markets earlier this year, and gasoline prices surged. (So did margarine, oddly enough, due partly to the war’s impact on sunflower oil from Ukraine, the world’s largest producer.)In other words: “core” inflation gives a better sense of the future inflationary trend in the U.S., economists said. When inflation is low and stable, mont …
