Inflation Explained with Fexingo: CPI, Prices, and the Cost of Living for Everyday People

Lucas and Luna dig into the 10-year breakeven inflation rate, which has dropped to 2.29 percent even as CPI remains stubbornly above 4 percent. They explain what this bond-market signal really means for your wallet and whether it's a reliable forecast or a misleading indicator. Drawing on the latest data from June 2026, they explore why the breakeven rate has diverged from headline inflation and w...

Inflation is still running hot at 4.2 percent annually, but core measures are starting to soften. Yet gold, the classic inflation hedge, has rallied more than 6 percent in just the last five trading days, hitting a fresh high near $4,355 an ounce. Lucas and Luna dig into the disconnect: why investors are piling into the metal even as the Fed holds rates steady and the ten-year breakeven rate barel...

In this episode of Inflation Explained, Lucas and Luna break down why auto insurance premiums are rising at their fastest pace in decades, even as headline CPI shows some cooling. They explore how repair costs, supply chains, and risk modeling are driving the surge, and what it means for your budget. With car repair inflation running at 8.2% year-over-year and insurers losing money on every policy...

Lucas and Luna dig into the latest CPI data, specifically the May 2026 headline of 4.2 percent annual inflation, and explain why shelter costs are the biggest reason core inflation remains sticky. They break down how the Bureau of Labor Statistics calculates owner's equivalent rent, why that lagging indicator may be masking real-time rent declines, and what it means for the Fed's next move. With t...

Lucas and Luna break down why internet bills are rising faster than official CPI inflation measures, drawing on May's 4.2% CPI print and new FCC data on broadband pricing. They compare the trend to other sticky services like auto insurance and rent, and explain what it means for your budget and for the Fed's fight against inflation. Episode 53 of Inflation Explained with Fexingo. #InflationExplain...

In this episode of Inflation Explained with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna dive into an overlooked corner of the CPI: internet and cable bills. With May's CPI hitting 4.2%, most attention is on food and energy, but communication costs have been quietly rising at a pace not seen in years. Lucas breaks down how broadband pricing has shifted from steady deflation to 3% annual increases, driven by infrastruc...

New CPI data shows shelter inflation still running hot at 5.2% annually, even as headline CPI hit 4.2% in May 2026. Lucas and Luna break down why the government's 'owners' equivalent rent' calculation — which estimates what homeowners would pay to rent their own home — is the single biggest factor keeping core inflation elevated. They walk through how a hypothetical $2,000 apartment gets split int...

In episode 50 of Inflation Explained with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna unpack a gap many shoppers feel but can't quite name: restaurant prices have been climbing nearly twice as fast as grocery prices since 2023. Using fresh May 2026 CPI data — where food-away-from-home hit 6.8% annual growth versus food-at-home at 3.5% — they trace the divergence to labor costs, commercial real estate leases, and the...

New cars are getting cheaper — transaction prices on models like the Toyota Camry have dropped about 3 percent over the past year. But auto insurance premiums are up more than 20 percent over the same period, and the gap is widening. In this episode, Lucas and Luna dig into the divergence: why manufacturers are discounting to move inventory off lots while insurers are hiking rates to catch up with...

Lucas and Luna unpack how a seemingly simple breakfast item — the bagel — has become a bellwether for sticky inflation in the service sector. With May's CPI hitting 4.2 percent and wholesale prices surging 1.1 percent in May, they trace the cost pressures from wheat futures to bakery labor to your coffee shop counter. They explain why bagel prices are rising faster than the overall food-at-home in...

The Fed has held interest rates at 3.63 percent since January 2025, but inflation is still running at 4.2 percent. Lucas and Luna explain why the fed funds rate isn't the only tool that matters anymore, and how a 40-basis-point gap between the effective rate and what banks actually pay is distorting credit card and auto loan costs. They look at the Interest on Reserve Balances rate, the SOFR, and...

On this episode of Inflation Explained, Lucas and Luna examine the May 2026 wholesale inflation numbers and what they mean for your wallet. With the Producer Price Index surging 1.1% in May, far above expectations, the hosts break down why energy-driven wholesale costs are a leading indicator for consumer prices. They discuss how the jump in wholesale energy prices—spurred by the Iran conflict and...

On June 11, 2026, the European Central Bank raised interest rates for the first time since 2023, driven by surging energy costs linked to the Iran war. Lucas and Luna unpack how this ECB decision reshapes the global inflation picture, why US wholesale prices jumped 1.1% in May, and what it means for American consumers watching their own 4.2% CPI. They connect the dots between energy shocks, centra...

Consumer prices rose 4.2% annually in May 2026, the highest in three years. Lucas and Luna break down what this specific number means for your wallet—not just the headline, but the hidden forces in energy and household expectations. They examine the New York Fed survey showing financial worries at a three-year high, and connect the dots between the Fed's 3.62% rate and the price of everyday goods....

Lucas and Luna explore how discretionary purchases like coffee reveal the true impact of inflation on household budgets. With CPI hitting 4.2% annually in May 2026, they break down the gap between headline inflation and everyday spending, using the example of a daily latte to explain how price increases compound over time. They discuss the New York Fed's survey on household financial worries hitti...

Episode 42 of Inflation Explained with Fexingo: Lucas and Luna dive into a surprising driver of sticky inflation — car repairs. With the April CPI at 332.4 and core CPI at 335.4, vehicle maintenance costs have risen 8.2% year-over-year, far outpacing headline inflation. They break down why: a shortage of skilled mechanics (the average age of a technician is now 53), the shift to high-tech parts (a...

In this episode of Inflation Explained, Lucas and Luna explore a surprising inflation signal: the shrinking size of new apartments. As developers cut square footage to keep rents palatable, the price per square foot keeps climbing—a hidden cost that official CPI metrics don't fully capture. Lucas breaks down data from RentCafe showing that the average new apartment in 2025 was 887 square feet, dow...

Episode 40 of Inflation Explained with Fexingo digs into a fresh inflation signal: the New York Fed's Household Financial Stress Index just hit its highest level since July 2022. Lucas and Luna unpack why this survey matters more than CPI for understanding where inflation actually lives—in people's wallets. With the S&P 500 down 2.7% and gold sliding 2.7% in the last five days, markets are pricing...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna dig into a surprising inflation signal: the price of pork. While headline CPI has cooled, the cost of bacon and pork chops has surged over 15% year-over-year. They explore how a combination of African swine fever outbreaks overseas, higher feed costs, and labor shortages in meatpacking plants are driving the spike. They connect this to the broader story of food pric...

Episode 38 of Inflation Explained with Fexingo digs into a stubborn inflation pocket that most people overlook: medical supplies. Lucas and Luna break down why items like surgical gloves, syringes, and IV bags are still seeing double-digit price increases even as headline CPI moderates. Drawing on the latest April CPI data (332.4 overall, but with medical commodities up over 6 percent year-over-ye...

In episode 37 of Inflation Explained with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna dig into the April CPI report showing headline inflation cooling to 332.4, but shelter costs remain stubbornly elevated at 5.2% annual growth. They explore how owner's equivalent rent, apartment concessions, and the lag in BLS data create a gap between what consumers feel and what the index shows. Using Zillow and Apartment List dat...

The May jobs report is out Friday, but Lucas and Luna dig past the headline number into a quieter crisis: long-term unemployment is surging even as inflation moderates. They unpack why workers who've been jobless for 27 weeks or more are getting left behind, how that shifts bargaining power away from labor, and what it means for the Fed's next move. With the S&P 500 down nearly 3% this week and go...

Episode 35 of Inflation Explained with Fexingo: CPI, Prices, and the Cost of Living for Everyday People. Lucas and Luna dig into why home insurance premiums are rising at double the rate of overall inflation, and how new data sources like Zillow and satellite imagery are changing how insurers price risk. They look at the April CPI shelter index (still sticky at 4.2% year-over-year) versus the 11%...

Inflation is cooling in the official CPI data, but hotel room rates tell a different story — one about supply constraints, labor costs, and shifting travel patterns. Lucas and Luna break down how the post-pandemic hotel boom has turned into a structural price reset, using data from major chains like Marriott and Hilton. They explore why a night in a mid-tier hotel now costs what a luxury room did...

The S&P 500 is near all-time highs even as CPI ticks up. Lucas and Luna dig into this disconnect, looking at why investors aren't panicking over April's CPI reading of 332.4. They explore the role of the Fed's rate pause, the ten-year breakeven inflation rate dropping to 2.36 percent, and how corporate pricing power is reshaping the inflation narrative. By examining specific sectors like technolog...