The David Lin Report · Saturday, September 19, 2026
August's CPI report revealed a 0.4% monthly and 3.4% annual rise in headline inflation, largely driven by gasoline prices. Core inflation also edged higher than expected. However, economist Anna Wang noted that some price increases, like those in wireless phone services and hotel rates, are one-off outliers, while housing rents and some food categories show disinflationary trends.
“August headline CPI rose 0.4% on the month and 3.4% over the year. It's more or less in line with market expectations. While core prices rose 0.3% harder than market expectations.”
“Yeah, so the headline, uh, core surprised on the high side, but but when you dig into the details, uh, it is really due to a couple outliers. One of them is the wireless phone services category.”
“So those are, you know, I would say all in all, if you drill into the details of the report, it is one that's more mixed and nuanced than the hotter than expected headline and core reading suggest.”