CNBC personality Rick Santelli said on Thursday's “Squawk Box” that he would buy things for $1.19 that he could buy for $1 before the coronavirus pandemic.
“The Bureau of Labor Statistics' consumer price index for December rose 0.2% and is expected to rise 0.3%,” Santelli said. And when you remove food and energy, it increases by 0.3%, as expected. ”
He continued, “Let's just go with this. Year over year, the CPI is expected to rise by 3.2. It's up 3.4. The previous high was 3.0 in June of last year. This is the highest since March 2021. That's the best number.”
He added, “If we take Core CPI as the actual seasonally adjusted index, that number is 313.216. That probably means nothing to you. It means something to me. This is an all-time high. Ever! Now, remember that the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases this number. Visit their website. When did COVID-19 start? March of 2020? Got it? This is the number for December, meaning the most updated number from about 2 minutes ago. Look at the CPI inflation calculator on the website and enter February 2020. Before coronavirus You can see that it costs $1.19 in Nov '23 to buy something you bought for $1 in November 2019. If you don't believe me, do it.”
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