The election may be over, but some of the Regime Media continue to act as if campaign season were ongoing- particularly as pertains to story selection on the evening news. Case in point, today’s publication of the Consumer Price Index, which shows that inflation persists.
Of the three major networks, only CBS mustered a story on the CPI. Here is that report in its entirety, as aired on the CBS Evening News:
CBS EVENING NEWS
11/13/24
6:43 PM
NORAH O’DONNELL: Your bills for groceries and other essentials probably went up last month. The Consumer Price Index measuring inflation showed a slight uptick. In October, consumer prices rose 2.6% from a year ago, that's up slightly from September. That is the first time that headline number increased since March. CBS's Kelly O'Grady explains what it means for you and your wallet.
KELLY O’GRADY: Mom and business owner Ashley Rice is experiencing sticker shock.
ASHLEY RICE: When we first started noticing inflation, it was terrifying. You could see that our money just was not going as far as it used to go.
O’GRADY: The road to lower inflation is a speed bump. The Federal Reserve's 2% target now further out of reach. The biggest driver: housing costs, including rents, went up by nearly half a percent asked month alone- up 4.9% since last year. Grocery prices are improving, up just .1% from September and 1.1% over last year. Prices last month fell for eggs, beef, and fresh vegetables, but overall, grocery items are still up from before the pandemic.
RICE: And when my husband talks about, “oh, we’re going to go get orange juice”, I’m like, yeah, it's $9.99 now. Remember when it was only $7?
O’GRADY: What are you finding your grocery bill looks like?
RICE: Our grocery bill has almost doubled. It's insane.
O’GRADY: One bright spot: real wages, your take-home earnings after inflation, up 1.4% annually. That means American paychecks are growing faster than inflation but it will take time before consumers feel it in their wallets. Rice sees it in her business income.
RICE: So it's not a business that is necessarily a need, it’s more of a want, and when people don't have that disposable income, they’re going to cut down on the wants.
O’GRADY: The Federal Reserve will decide whether to cut interest rates again next month, and this report could cause concern. Further mortgage rates track where investors think inflation is going, and Norah, today's read could drive those higher.
O’DONNELL: That’s an important point about those mortgage rates. Kelly O’Grady, thank you.
It is noteworthy that neither ABC nor NBC offered any reporting on the Consumer Price Index. It is also troubling. Given that the election has passed, there is no incentive for ABC or NBC to withhold inflation news from their viewers. Voters have already rendered their judgment on the state of the economy.
What we learn from the CBS report is that the state of the economy is wanting, and that consumers are still feeling substantial economic pain. The young mother's admission of a nearly doubled grocery bill sounds painful, but her evocation of $9.99 orange juice is outright terrifying.
Also, don’t miss the part towards the end of the report about mortgage rates creeping slightly higher as a result of this reported increase in inflation. This portends increased consumer pain as pertains to housing costs, which have skyrocketed over the last four years.
To their credit, CBS ran the story. To their shame, the rest of the Regime Media did not. We’ll see how the media cover such stories once the Trump Administration is sworn in. One suspects that from that point forward, adverse economic news will warrant (D)ifferent coverage.
