The inflation boogeyman now hides in services
Bloomberg/John Authers/2-15-2023
“The most painful message from the figures is that disinflation won’t happen all at once and could turn out — as more than one analyst put it — to be a long and winding road. Here, then, is an attempt at a guide to what is really happening to prices in the US.”
USAGOLD note: Though services, as Authers points out, are the driving force behind the current inflation rate, we should not dismiss the anecdotal evidence from supply managers who report higher prices for goods that go into the production process. Should the price of finished goods begin to rise again, those increases will be in addition to the already high cost of services.