By Caitlin Kenney
The Consumer Price Index, or CPI, rose 0.2 percent in September, after a 0.4 percent increase in August. Consumer prices are down 1.3 percent from a year ago. The lack of inflation is good news for central bankers who want to keep interest rates low for as long as it takes for the economy to recover.
Energy prices were up 0.6 percent in September, but food and housing prices both fell. Rent and owners' equivalent rent, which measures how much homeowners think their houses would rent to someone else, both fell by 0.1 percent. It was the first time rent fell since 1992. Rent and rental equivalence are important figures, since they make up 30 percent of the total CPI and nearly 40 percent of the core CPI, which excludes food and energy.
As someone who recently rented my first Manhattan apartment, I find it scary to think that the rents that I saw advertised are much lower than last year. I can only imagine what my current apartment would have rented for a year ago. Bloomberg reports that the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan is down 11 percent from last year. Nationally, rents are down 2.7 percent.
categories: News
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