On Thursday morning, the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) came out for February just after 8:30 a.m. Eastern and, as expected, it was another record high with inflation up 7.9 percent from last year and a 0.8 percent increase from January. Unfortunately, ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s Today saw no reason to mention it in their always superficial final half-hour.
In contrast, CBS Mornings had one minute and 57 seconds on CPI report as part of a three-minute-and-44-second discussion about personal finance and navigating these tough economic times.
Fill-in co-host and White House correspondent Nancy Cordes broke the news to CBS viewers at the onset of their “CBS Money Watch” segment about “how you can save money when gas and food are getting more expensive”:
We've got new inflation numbers that just came out. They show prices in February were 7.9 percent higher than the same time last year. That's more than the 40-year record high the U.S. saw in January. Prices are also rising at the pump. Everyone knows that by now. A new record every day. The average price of a gallon of regular gas hit $4.32 overnight. AAA says it's up 59 cents in the past week alone. Drivers in California are paying an average of $5.69 a gallon.
CBS News business analyst Jill Schlesinger let out an audible sign of disgust as Cordes reiterated the 7.9 percent number before giving her take.
Stating the obvious that “prices are the move,” Schlesinger made the key point that most of the month had gone by “before Russia invaded Ukraine, so we don't even account for that.”
Adding that it’s “the highest price increases annually since January of 1982,” she noted the “terrible” 38 percent increase in gas, but made sure to highlight food costs before saying things are “going to get worse”:
Food costs up 7.9 percent. Food at home up 8.6 percent. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that’s the highest since 1981. And when you go down and you drill down through all these numbers, it sort of feels like everything's going up.
Cordes offered her observation as a White House reporter, gently pointing to how the administration’s spin hasn’t panned out: “[T]he White House keeps telling us prices are going to come down, they're going to come down. But that was before the war in Ukraine. And when the price of gas goes up, the price of everything goes up.”
Schlesinger replied in the affirmative and made sure to bring up how gas prices affect “[s]hipping and transportation, as well.”
Going forward, Schlesinger predicted “a period where we can pretty clearly see that eight percent and maybe even nine percent inflation is on the horizon, and that things — again, this is predicated on what happens in Ukraine, but we don't look until the end of the year looking like we get back to more normal inflationary levels.”
Before going onto a section about helping to save money at the grocery store (which could be boiled down to buy more generic brands), fill-in co-host Vladimir Duthiers had a sidebar about the inability of wages to keep up with inflation even though, in throwing a bone to the Biden White House, “the economy is strong” (click “expand”):
DUTHIERS: So the economy is strong, Jill. And we know last year hourly wages rose 4.7 percent, overall wages were down. But if wages aren't growing —
BURLESON: Mmm
DUTHIERS: — to keep up pace with inflation —
BURLESON: Right.
DUTHIERS: — Americans are going to feel it even more.
SCHLESINGER: Absolutely. And you know, what we see is there's been a lot of analysis that even though prices were up last year, because of all the stimulus and relief efforts, the childcare tax credit, a lot of households did okay. This year is going to be different and that means it is incumbent upon us as individuals to actually go and try to get for — get a raise, try to get a bonus. We have new reports that show us that if you're a job changer, if you change jobs, you're going to get a better raise than if you just stick around. I know that's hard for a lot of folks, but you've got to at least look, maybe get a bonus. Maybe work from home a couple days a week if possible because that will at least ease up on your gas and your commuting costs.
While CBS was covering news that affects each and every American, ABC was asking actress Sandra Oh about the finale of her AMC show Killing Eve and NBC was previewing a special edition of Today With Hoda & Jenna in New Orleans.
Thursday’s bias by omission featured advertisers such as Planet Fitness and Popeye’s. Follow the links to see their contact information at the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page.
To see the relevant transcript from March 10’s CBS Mornings, click “expand.”
CBS Mornings
March 10, 2022
8:24 a.m. Eastern [TEASE][ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Inflation Frustration]
NATE BURLESON: We're getting more information this morning about the soaring cost of living. Jill Schlesinger is here. She's joining us. She's going to help with us some strategies to help fight the higher costs. How you can pay less for gas, groceries, and other essentials.
(....)
8:35 a.m. Eastern
NANCY CORDES: Well, in this morning's CBS Money Watch, how you can save money when gas and food are getting more expensive. We've got new inflation numbers that just came out. They show prices in February were 7.9 percent higher than the same time last year. That's more than the 40-year record high the U.S. saw in January. Prices are also rising at the pump. Everyone knows that by now. A new record every day. The average price of a gallon of regular gas hit $4.32 overnight. AAA says it's up 59 cents in the past week alone. Drivers in California are paying an average of $5.69 a gallon. CBS News business analyst Jill Schlesinger is with us. Good morning, Jill.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Breaking News; Inflation Rate Spikes; Inflation Rises by 7.9% in February Compared to Last Year]
JILL SCHLESINGER: Good morning.
CORDES: And you have been speed reading —
SCHLESINGER: Yes.
CORDES: — through this new inflation report, 7.9 percent.
SCHLESINGER: Eeek.
CORDES: What does that tell us?
SCHLESINGER: It tells us prices are on the move. This is actually, of course, is mostly the period before Russia invaded Ukraine, so we don't even account for that. But just to put a fine point on it, as you said, these are the highest price increases annually since January of 1982 and the food prices also very high. I mean, we always focus on gas, which is up 38 percent from a year ago, terrible. Food costs up 7.9 percent. Food at home up 8.6 percent. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that’s the highest since 1981. And when you go down and you drill down through all these numbers, it sort of feels like everything's going up
BURLESON: Mmm.
CORDES: Right.
SCHLESINGER: — and it's only going to get worse.
CORDES: And the White House keeps telling us prices are going to come down, they're going to come down. But that was before the war in Ukraine.
SCHLESINGER: Yeah.
CORDES: And when the price of gas goes up, the price of everything goes up.
SCHLESINGER: Absolutely. Shipping and transportation, as well. I think that we are looking at a period where we can pretty clearly see that eight percent and maybe even nine percent inflation is on the horizon, and that things — again, this is predicated on what happens in Ukraine, but we don't look until the end of the year looking like we get back to more normal inflationary levels.
VLADIMIR DUTHIERS: So the economy is strong, Jill. And we know last year hourly wages rose 4.7 percent, overall wages were down. But if wages aren't growing —
BURLESON: Mmm
DUTHIERS: — to keep up pace with inflation —
BURLESON: Right.
DUTHIERS: — Americans are going to feel it even more.
SCHLESINGER: Absolutely. And you know, what we see is there's been a lot of analysis that even though prices were up last year, because of all the stimulus and relief efforts, the childcare tax credit, a lot of households did okay. This year is going to be different and that means it is incumbent upon us as individuals to actually go and try to get for — get a raise, try to get a bonus. We have new reports that show us that if you're a job changer, if you change jobs, you're going to get a better raise than if you just stick around. I know that's hard for a lot of folks, but you've got to at least look, maybe get a bonus. Maybe work from home a couple days a week if possible because that will at least ease up on your gas and your commuting costs.
BURLESON: Okay, so that might be an easy way to save a little bit money at the pump. What about the grocery store? If wheat prices are going up, that means that trip to the grocery store is going to be costly. Any advice there?
SCHLESINGER: Absolutely. You know, I was doing some research for this, I found out that the whole idea of generic and private label branding came about in the 1970s spike of inflation. So if you can go to generics, it is a huge help. And we're talking generics are about 20 percent of the total of sales in the grocery store. Obviously, buying in bulk and checking in sales. You may want to actually carve up a little bit, skip the proteins. I just see in this report that meats, poultry, fish, and eggs, up 13 percent. So a lot of people are trying to do meatless Mondays to help out.
BURLESON: Yeah. Listen, as a son of two parents who worked 9 to 5's plus overtime and raised four boys, generic branding was the way to go for a long time —
SCHLESINGER: Yep.
BURLESON: — when we were trying to make ends meet.
SCHLESINGER: Absolutely.
BURLESON: Thank you so much, we appreciate you.
