‘Wow!’ ‘I Would Call This Dramatic!’ CNN Anchors Gush Over New Inflation Report

CNN anchors Sara Sidner and Christine Romans gushed about a new report that shows inflation cooling, with Romans calling the new “dramatic” and eliciting a “Wow!” from Sidner.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its March Producer Price Index (PPI) report Thursday morning, a key indicator of inflation.

On Thursday morning’s edition of brand-new dayside program CNN News Central, Sidner and Romans went over the report, which was apparently a lot better than expected:

SARA SIDNER: Inflation measured cooled more than expected in March. The Producer Price Index tracks wholesale prices for goods and services. CNN’s Christine Romans is joining us now, the master of money. What are the numbers?

CHRISTINE ROMANS: I would call this dramatic! A dramatic cooling in inflation at the factory floor. This is, of course, where the nation’s factories and warehouses are. So it’s not what you’re paying at the grocery store, but just before that, in the chain. And we saw that month over month prices fell 0.5%. That is the biggest drop we’ve seen in a couple of years. And when you look overall, prices grew 2.7% year over year. What does that mean? Well, the Fed is trying to inch inflation closer to 2%. This is the closest we’ve seen in a couple of years. You compare that with last year, last month, when year over year was something like 4.6%. So this is a dramatic one month downgrade in the inflation situation. We also got the latest weekly jobless claims. We’re watching the jobs market. It’s been incredibly tight, adding 11,000 in first time unemployment benefits. This is now the highest in more than a year, but still historically low. So this is kind of what the Fed wants to see. Perversely, the Fed wants to see the job market not be so strong so that it can try to get this inflation beast under control. But this is altogether good news this morning, Sarah.

SARA SIDNER: Those jobless numbers, you know, not great, but wow! We’re really close to that inflation number that the Fed’s trying to get to.

The White House also took a victory lap over the news. White House Press Secretary Karine JEan-Pierre put out a statement taking a victory lap as she travelled with President Joe Biden in Ireland:

Statement from Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on the March Producer Price Index

Today’s report is further evidence that we are making progress bringing inflation down. The annual inflation rate for producers is 2.7 percent — the lowest rate in more than two years. On average, prices set by businesses actually fell last month. This follows yesterday’s news that inflation for consumers is down substantially from its peak last summer. There is more work to do, but this is important progress for our economy and for American families.

Watch above via CNN News Central.