November Inflation Numbers Spark Split Coverage

Year-over-year inflation cooled to 2.7% in November from 3% in September, but some are warning not to read into the report too much due to the government shutdown.

The Details: The Consumer Price Index Summary released Thursday showed inflation easing unexpectedly, down 0.3% compared to September. The core inflation, which strips the often volatile food and energy sectors from the equation, also slowed to 2.6% from 3.1% in the last report.

For Context: There were no October figures collected due to the 43-day government shutdown, and the Federal Reserve and some economists are taking the November report "with a grain of salt because of the odd circumstances it was compiled under."

How The Media Covered It: Some outlets across the spectrum highlighted the hesitancy economists are showing with reading too far into the report, however there are some major differences in how different outlets are expressing this. For example, The National Desk (Right bias) explained that economists are taking the report with "a grain of salt," while CNN Business (Lean Left) said economists are taking it with "the entire salt shaker." However, not all outlets on the left were as critical as others, and not all outlets on the right were as optimistic as others. ABC News (Lean Left) didn't mention economists hesitancy at all, but rather highlighted that the drop ends "a monthslong acceleration of price increases" and offers "relief for households strained by cost hikes." Fox Business (Lean Right), conversely highlighted the fact that the inflation number, although lower than expected, was yet "well above the Federal Reserve's target rate." The outlet also did not mention the skepticism around the data from the report until nearly the end of the article.  

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