That CPI report got a Black Friday discount

Marketplace

American Public Media

News, Business

4.6 • 8K Ratings

🗓️ 18 December 2025

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

November inflation data came in lower than expected, according to the latest CPI report. But we can’t compare it to the previous month, since the BLS skipped several October reports. And data collection began late thanks to the shutdown, right in the middle of retailers’ Black Friday sales. In this episode, key caveats to the November CPI. Plus: Experts cautiously predict a more balanced housing market in 2026, tech stocks take a hit as data center debt climbs, and a growing number of politicians reject economists’ expertise.

Every story has an economic angle. Want some in your inbox? Subscribe to our daily or weekly newsletter.

Marketplace is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at marketplace.org — and consider making an investment in our future.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I got some good news on inflation, and I got some bad news on inflation.
0:07.9	From American public media, this is Marketplace.
0:17.0	In Los Angeles, I'm Kyle Rizzdahl. It is Thursday. Today, this one is the 18th day of December. Good as always to have you along, everybody.
0:30.2	You have seen or heard the headline by now, I'm sure. November inflation came in lower than a lot of people had been guessing. Consumer prices were up
0:38.1	2.7 percent over the past year, so said the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But, and hang on a minute,
0:46.6	because there are some caveats. For one thing, there was no CPI for October to add into the
0:52.0	data mix. And for another, the BLS didn't start collecting price data for
0:56.0	November until about halfway through the month. Thanks again. Shut down. Marketplace is Henryab now
1:03.2	on what this report can and cannot tell us. This report shows that our long national nightmare of
1:09.9	fast rising prices is coming to an end,
1:12.1	right? So this is not a good guide as to what is going on with inflation.
1:16.7	Hmm. Omer Sharif leads the firm inflation insights. He says this report is just not giving us the
1:22.0	whole picture of consumer prices because we're missing October, so we can't compare how prices
1:27.3	might have moved month to month.
1:29.3	And then the data BLS did collect only captured the second half of November.
1:33.9	Most people are pretty familiar with the idea that the back half of November, you get a lot of, you know,
1:38.8	deals and discounts around Black Friday and Cyber Monday and so on.
1:42.4	Meaning a lot of the prices the BLS captured were discounted for the holidays.
1:47.3	Electronics, appliances, things like that.
1:49.6	Some of those things were weak, I think partly because of this data collection issue.
1:55.5	No data collection for six weeks may also have skewed another big item in the report.
2:00.7	Shelter, meaning what we pay to rent
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from American Public Media, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of American Public Media and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.