Lower energy prices have spurred a significant drop in consumer
prices according to a December 15 report from a federal agency that
tracks economic data. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the CPI-U
decreased 0.6 percent in November, its largest decline since a 0.9
drop in July 1949, the
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported in its December
news release on the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The news is the
latest in a string of good economic reports which have defied media
pessimism on the economy.
In
October the Business & Media Institute (BMI) documented media fears of
skyrocketing inflation supposedly caused by energy price spikes
following Hurricane Katrina. At that time, reporters like CNNs
Miles OBrien and NBCs Nightly News anchor Brian Williams
conjured images of high inflation from the 1970s. OBrien joked that
it was time to bring back the Whip Inflation Now campaign buttons
while Williams, a former Carter White House intern, compared the
inflation rate with that of the Georgia peanut farmers presidency.
But in the December release, the BLS found energy
prices down and inflation well in check. The drop in price of
petroleum-based energy more than offset a 2.1 percent increase in
the index for energy services in November. For the year thus far,
the government agency noted, inflation stood at 3.8 percent while
core inflation, which excludes volatile energy and food prices,
stood at 2.1 percent, down slightly from the year before.
The
Business & Media Institute has previously documented the medias
persistent drumbeat of pessimism on the economy, including how
network morning show coverage of a positive economy on
December 2 was a one-day
fluke.
U.S. Economy Again Defies Media Pessimism
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