Biden Tweaks CPI Index – Coffee Comes Under Scrutiny

Why is it that food and and energy are not included in the consumer price index? Either way, your cup of Joe is bidding adieu to the index as calculated . They can tweak it all they want, but inflation is inflation. A new report comes out this week.

Here goes:

The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced coffee prices will no longer be factored into the CPI inflation data.

This is another way for the US government to fudge the inflation numbers to help Joe Biden in the middle of a presidential election.

The overwhelming majority of Americans consume coffee every day. According to Drive Research, 73% of Americans drink coffee every day. Consumer prices rose 0.4% in February – less energy and food prices. Grocery prices are up 30+%. Gas prices are soaring.

The US BLS has announced that coffee prices will no longer be factored into CPI inflation data. In fact, the April 2024 CPI inflation report this week will be the first to NOT include coffee price inflation. Well, the obvious next step is to see what happened to coffee prices over the last few months.

Since September 2023, coffee prices are up a MASSIVE 78%. From January 1st of this year through the high in April when this change was announced, coffee prices gained 35%.  Starbucks, just reported a 6% decline in traffic as higher prices deter consumers. What is happening here?

This week’s April CPI inflation report will NOT include coffee price inflation.

Consumer Price Index News Release – 2024 M03 Results

Bureau of Labor Statistics (.gov)

Here is a handy dandy chart. Go to link above.

The all items index rose 3.5 percent for the 12 months ending March, a larger increase than the 3.2-percent increase for the 12 months ending February. The all items less food and energy index rose 3.8 percent over the last 12 months. The energy index increased 2.1 percent for the 12 months ending March, the first 12-month increase in that index since the period ending February 2023. The food index increased 2.2 percent over the last year. 

After I put this post together, a comment was left on the tweet.