Consumer prices rise quickly

From the AP:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumer prices shot up in July at twice the expected rate, pushed higher by surging energy and food costs. The latest surge left inflation running at the fastest pace in 17 years.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that consumer prices rose by 0.8 percent last month, twice the 0.4 percent gain that economists had been expecting.

It marked the third straight month of oversized inflation increases following jumps of 0.6 percent in May and 1.1 percent in June. And it leaves inflation rising by 5.6 percent over the past year, the biggest 12-month gain since January 1991.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, rose 0.3 percent in July, slightly higher than the 0.2 percent increase that economists had expected. For the past 12 months, core inflation has risen by 2.5 percent, the highest 12-month change since February.

The inflation surge presents a major problem for the Federal Reserve: Will inflation force it to start raising interest rates even as the economy struggles to avoid a recession?

Some economists said they believed this could be the last truly horrible inflation report, noting that energy prices have been falling since hitting a peak last month. Others worried that the July report could be a signal that inflation is not going to moderate as quickly as had been expected because the surge in energy prices is now starting to spread to other sectors of the economy.

So basically "core" inflation has risen, and the statistics do not track the costs of Alpha Strategy key items, food and fuel and the products made from oil, with a JIT inventory system, some makers of those products may only suffer a small rise in costs, manufacturers typically sign futures contracts for their raw materials, however once those contracts run out, the producers will have no choice but to raise prices on everything from Oatmeal to Toothpaste.

For myself, I hit on a mini gold mine of savings at a Industrial Paper Supplier, 200 rolls of generic Toilet paper for 40 bucks, a similar amount of a name brand toilet paper would cost 150 dollars plus taxes of 11 dollars, or about 25% of the cost for the 200 rolls.

It's small ball somewhat, but it reaffirms the saver mindset, and 200 rolls of TP will last almost two years at my home.