CNBC personality Rick Santelli said on Thursday’s “Squawk Box” that it takes a $1.19 to buy what a dollar bought before the coronavirus pandemic.
Santelli said, “Our Consumer Price Index read for the month of December by Bureau of Labor Statistics expected to be up 0.2% up 0.3%. And if you strip out food and energy, it is exactly as expected, which is up 0.3%.”
He continued, “Let’s go along here. Year over year, CPI is expected to be up 3.2. It’s up 3.4. The best it’s been was 3.0 in June of last year. That is the best since March of 2021.”
He added, “If you take core CPI the actual index, which is seasonally adjusted, the read there is 313.216. That probably doesn’t mean anything to you. Means something to me. That’s the highest it’s ever been. It’s ever been! Now remember, the Bureau of Labor Statistics brings out the number. Go to their website. When did COVID start? March of 2020? Okay. This is a December number meaning the most updated prior to about two minutes ago. Go on the website look at CPI inflation calculator and you put in Feb of 2020. What you’ll find is it takes $1.19 of November ’23 to buy what bought a dollar pre-COVID. Do it if you don’t believe me.”
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