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The Consumer Price Index rose 0.4 percent in August after jumping 0.5 percent in July. The core index, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.2 percent. For the 12 months that ended in August, the core index surged 2 percent, the biggest year-over-year increase in nearly three years. That's at the high end of the Federal Reserve's informal inflation target. It could limit the central bank's ability to take further steps to try to revive the economy. The Labor Department said food prices rose 0.5 percent, the biggest increase since March.

Economy: What's a six-letter word that describes what you get when you combine spiking jobless claims and rising inflation? Answer: M-I-S-E-R-Y. And as new reports show, Obama is dishing out heaping portions of it. The two reports out of the Labor Department are troubling enough on their own. Jobless claims hit 428,000 last week, up 11,000 from the week before, the highest level in months and, naturally, unexpected. And inflation in August was up 3.8% over last year, also higher than forecast. These reports also point to a more worrisome trend. With unemployment stuck at a stratospheric 9.1% — and...

Fool's Mission (Final point at the end of the article) Obama wants to create jobs via stimulus measures. It's a fool's mission. Prevailing wages drive up the costs, few are hired, and the cost-per-job (created or saved) is staggering. Money never goes very far because the US overpays every step of the way. Stimulus plans that do not fix the structural problems are as productive as pissing in the wind. Then when the stimulus dies, which it is guaranteed to do, a mountain of debt remains. Instead, my 12-point recommendation list will fix numerous structural problems, create lasting jobs, and...

Why Food For Fuel Is A Terrible Idea By Jonathan Chen Benzinga Staff Writer September 02, 2011 12:17 PM Pretty soon, corn will be more valuable than a barrel of oil. There is an article on Bloomberg Government from last month that still holds true today. (Gasp! Something written more than 30 seconds ago still holds true?) It is a sad fact that the U.S. is using corn almost as much as Saudi oil as fuel in this country. The "food for fuel" idea has been around for a long time, and it has been seen as a bailout of...

Why The US Will NEVER Inflate Its Way Out Of All Its Debt Joe Weisenthal Sep. 2, 2011, 12:57 PM Despite 10-year yields at 2%, CNBC's John Carney declares: "There's basically no more room for the government to issue debt. We must either muddle through a long recession or attempt to inflate our way out of it. There is no other choice." That the US should/could inflate its way out of debt is a very trendy idea right now, especially among conservative-types that favor some form of activist response to the economic malaise. Chief among them: Harvard economist Ken Rogoff...

In his Jackson Hole remarks on Friday morning, we don’t think Fed Chairman Bernanke will hint at QE3, an enlargement of the Fed’s $2.9 trillion balance sheet through additional Treasury bond purchases paid by excess reserves.  The August 9 FOMC statement was already an aggressive open-ended policy statement: “The Committee discussed the range of policy tools available to promote a stronger economic recovery in a context of price stability. It will continue to assess the economic outlook in light of incoming information and is prepared to employ these tools as appropriate.”   With July durable goods orders and auto sales holding up, auto...

Hedge Higher Food Prices By Investing In Corn Commodities / Agricultural Commodities Aug 25, 2011 - 06:55 AM By: Money Morning David Zeiler writes: A smaller-than-expected U.S. fall harvest, combined with strong demand, has sown the seeds of higher corn market prices. That will inflate your grocery bill, but it's also an investing opportunity that should persist into next year according to some experts. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently reduced its forecast for the fall corn crop to 12.9 billion bushels from 13.5 billion based on damage from spring flooding and summer drought in several key corn-producing...

I am a chef, I eat great and don't spend diddly squat on food, I am into food and love making something for almost nothing, you could say it's my forte. Here are things you can do to spend a lot less on food and help inflation; 1) Spend some time checking out what is on sale at 3-4 stores, the ads are in your mail box on Tuesday. Plan your shopping and do a bunch of stops, not just one for convenience. The sale items are also online... 2) If you are over-weight, buy less food, you eat too...

“For Americans, who live in a country that’s been the world’s breadbasket for more than half a century, a country that’s never known food shortages or runaway food prices, the world is about to change.” So says Lester R. Brown, president of the Earth Policy Institute and a person described by The Telegraph of Calcutta as the “guru of the global environmental movement.” [...] Some time back, Chinese leaders opted to be self-sufficient in grain production and import soybeans. [...] To maintain grain production, China plowed grasslands in the northwestern provinces and began irrigating heavily from aquifers. “Over-plowing and overgrazing...

How To Prepare Your Portfolio For A Spike In Food Prices Kapitall Aug. 24, 2011, 5:48 AM Corn is in nearly every US food product in some form, from Twinkies to animal feed, making corn production the single largest driver of food prices. Here's some bad news: this year's corn yield is less than expected, meaning elevated food prices for the next year. Fabulous! On top of the already stunted economy, high unemployment, outrageous government debt, we can count higher food prices among the catalysts for more food stamps, government subsidies, lower consumer spending, and a greater lean towards more...

American workers may get a slight raise in 2012, but the weak economy will likely still keep employers from getting too generous with the pay increases. That’s according to a new survey from Towers Watson, a professional services firm. The company found U.S. employers are planning to increase pay for salaried, nonexecutive employees by an average of 2.8 percent next year. Employees who are paid by the hour can expect an average 2.7 percent increase, according to the survey. That’s up slightly from an average increase of 2.6 percent this year and the year before, according to Towers Watson, which...

GOLD $1900 Gus Lubin Aug. 22, 2011, 5:16 PM Update: Gold hit the new record at $1,900.75. Now read why Wells Fargo say this stunning rise does not look like a bubble.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) yesterday released their consumer price index (CPI) data for the month of July. The BLS reported an increase in year-over-year CPI growth to 3.63%, the highest rate of U.S. price inflation since October of 2008. July's official government reported year-over-year U.S. price inflation rate of 3.63% was up from 3.56% in June, 3.57% in May, 3.16% in April, 2.68% in March, 2.11% in February, 1.63% in January, 1.5% in December, and 1.1% in November. The official rate of U.S. price inflation has increased by 230% over the last eight months. NIA conservatively projects...

New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week, according to a government report on Thursday that suggested hiring in August was steady but not robust. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 408,000, the Labor Department said. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims rising to 400,000. The prior week's figure was revised up to 399,000 from the previously reported 395,000. The claims data covers the survey week for August nonfarm payrolls. Claims dropped by 14,000 between the July and August survey periods, but there are fears that financial markets turbulence...

New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week, according to a government report on Thursday that suggested hiring in August was steady but not robust. Meanwhile, the Labor Department says the Consumer Price Index rose 0.5 percent in July, following a drop of 0.2 percent in June. Gas prices accounted for much of the swing. Prices increased by a seasonally adjusted 4.7 percent, after falling sharply in June. The core index, which excludes volatile food and energy, rose 0.2 percent. That's below the 0.3 percent rise in each of the previous two months. Prices are 3.6...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The cost of living for Americans rebounded in July after a rare decline in June, data showed Thursday. The consumer price index, tracking the rate of inflation at the retail level, increased 0.5% in July, the biggest gain since March, the Labor Department said. The growth was above the consensus forecast of economists polled by MarketWatch who had been looking a 0.4% increase.

(Reuters) - Consumer prices rose faster than expected in July as gasoline rebounded sharply, but a moderation in underlying price pressures backed the Federal Reserve's view of a low inflation environment. The Labor Department said its Consumer Price Index increased 0.5 percent, the largest gain since March, after falling 0.2 percent in June. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 0.2 percent rise last month. Gasoline, which rose 4.7 percent after falling 6.8 percent the prior month, accounted for about half of the rise in CPI last month. Core CPI -- excluding food and energy -- rose 0.2 percent after...

WASHINGTON — A key measure of wholesale inflation rose in July by the most in six months. The measure, called core wholesale inflation, excludes volatile food and energy prices. It surged 0.4 percent last month. But most economists say they aren’t concerned about the increase. One reason is that it was driven largely by costlier tobacco products and pickup trucks, which economists say are probably one-time events. Raw material prices also fell in July. Those figures should lead to lower wholesale prices in coming months.

The Odds Of Imminent QE3 Are Rapidly Plunging Joe Weisenthal Aug. 17, 2011, 9:09 AM Today's PPI report -- which came in hotter than expectations -- is probably the first nail in the coffin of the idea that Ben Bernanke will announce something big when he speaks at Jackson Hole later this month. The idea that this year would see an encore to last year was already looking unlikely. The data has not been sufficiently deflationary enough, and the mood has changed a lot. There were three dissenters when the Fed recently announced that it would keep rates low through...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Producer prices rose 0.2% in July as a decline in energy costs didn’t immediately filter through the rest of the economy, according to government data released Wednesday. The Labor Department said prices rose on a seasonally adjusted basis in July as a surge from tobacco offset a decline in energy costs. Gasoline prices fell 2.8% while tobacco shot up 2.8%, the biggest gain in more than two years. The cost of light trucks, pharmaceuticals as well as beef and veal also played a role in the advance. Excluding food and energy, core PPI rose 0.4%, the largest...