Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. July's consumer price index (CPI) report drew conflicting interpretations from economists on Wednesday, as the same data was read as a sign of disinflation, a case against current Fed policy, and grounds to question the numbers themselves. For former Fed economist Claudia Sahm, the report continued to build the case that inflation is moving in the right direction.
Implications for the Fed: good news. Disinflation, even as the Fed's been on hold so far this year, supports its stance. It's too soon to say whether a hold will be appropriate in September—more data coming—but the chances of a hike edged down some today. — Claudia Sahm (@Claudia_Sahm) August 12, 2026 A single bad hire can set a startup back years.
Here are the 5 hires founders most often misjudge — and why Still Learning the Market? These 50 Must-Know Terms Can Help You Catch Up Fast She noted that supercore inflation, or non-housing core services, rose just 0.2% in July, well below the pace seen earlier in the year, and called the narrowing breadth of price increases "the best news in today's report." The breadth of inflation narrowed in July, reducing one of the risks the Fed is monitoring. The share of the CPI basket with prices rising 5%+ fell in July and is back to the average levels in 1997-2005, when inflation was close to 2%.
This may be the best news in today's report! pic.twitter.com/1zhFBJbdko The CPI rose 3.4% year-over-year in July, in line with economists' estimates and down from June's 3.5% increase, while core CPI eased to 2.5% annually from 2.6%. Still, she cautioned that two months of data isn't enough to confirm the trend, with Thursday's Producer Price Index report set to shape the outlook for the Fed's preferred gauge, the PCE index. Market strategist David Rosenberg echoed that read, saying price pressure has narrowed to a handful of categories, such as computers, airfares and used cars, while showing little movement elsewhere.
He added that inflation skeptics, including the Fed's three dissenting officials, will eventually be forced to change their tune as the disinflation trend builds. The core CPI is running at the grand total of a +1.6% annual rate over the three months to July. The comparable this time last year was +2.7%.
Inflation did show up last month in computers (thanks Apple!), airfares, toys, appliances, and used cars. But it didn't show up anywhere… — David Rosenberg (@EconguyRosie) August 12, 2026 Trending: Avoid the #1 Investing Mistake: How Your 'Safe' Holdings Could Be Costing You Big Time However, Veteran economist Peter Schiff called the print "misleading", saying the way energy prices are captured created a lag effect, since oil and gasoline started July depressed before rebounding sharply, adding that the print still reflects May's collapse rather than July's rally. July's 0.1% CPI rise is misleading.
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