U.S. Consumer Prices Up 0.4%, Housing Starts Drop 6.5% in May

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 0.4% in May, while housing starts dropped 6.5% last month, this was discussed by CNBC’s Rick Santelli on June 17 morning. In addition, all important food items and energy increased 0.3% in May.

According to Rick Santelli, housing starts fell to a seasonally adjusted annualized units rate of nearly 1 million from 1.07 million in April. In addition, permits were down to 991,000 on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis.

“So the housing data may disappoint some just seems to sequentially fit with a lot of data series going back to mid-2013 trends. And we see that inflation, even down further than PPI is a little hotter than expected, I am sure a lot of it is energy. But so what? Energy is part of what we use on the commodities side. And I know everybody’s going to talk about geopolitics. Hey, I am a market guy. And you know what? The markets don’t seem to be affected. I know that bugs people, but that seems to be the case.”

Over the last 12 months, the all items index rose 2.1% before seasonal adjustment, representing the largest increase since February 2013. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said in a statement that this increase was broad-based, with the indexes for shelter, electricity, food, airline fares, and gasoline were among those that contributed.

The Bureau said that the food index reported its largest increase since August 2011, with the index for food at home rising 0.7%. The increases in the electricity and gasoline indexes led to a 0.9% rise in the energy index.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.3 percent in May, its largest increase since August 2011. Along with the indexes for shelter and airline fares, the medical care, apparel, and new vehicle indexes all increased in May. The indexes for household furnishings and operations and for used cars and trucks declined, according to the Bureau.

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