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CNBC Reporter Audibly Gasps In Real Time As He Learns Inflation Was Tamer Than Expected

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CNBC senior economics reporter Steve Liesman appeared stunned Thursday while reporting on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures during “Squawk Box.”

The CPI rose 2.7% year-to-year in November, down from a 3.0% year-to-year increase in September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Liesman appeared to gasp as he read the numbers to “Squawk Box” co-hosts Becky Quick and Andrew Ross Sorkin.

“Now the number of the morning, the CPI,” Liesman said, before he apparently gasped. “Oh, maybe coming in a little bit better than expected, 2.7%. a little light here. I’m not calling I’m just reading the headlines here. Year over year, 2.7, [excluding] food and energy core [2.6], so four-tenths off. That is a very good number here.”

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“And it, really, I have not looked at the internals, I’ll look at them now, but it suggests that the internals are good as well. Let’s see,” Liesman continued. “Year over year over the last 12 months there is no month to month, but some guys will be able to calculate seasonally adjusted index for all items. Less food and energy rose 0.2% over the two months. So, correct my math here, Michael Santoli, but 0.2 divided by two is 0.1, so therefore that’s a very, very low monthly rate here.”

Inflation hit high levels during the Biden administration, with the CPI hitting a four-decade high of 9% in June 2022, after then-President Joe Biden signed multiple spending initiatives into law, including the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, despite warnings that they could cause inflation to go up. President Donald Trump touted his economic policies in a Wednesday speech, while a fact sheet released by the White House noted lower prices for fresh fruit, butter, ice cream, shampoo and toilet paper.

The White House has touted declining gas prices as well, noting that over three dozen states have an average price of less than $3 a gallon, with at least 20 posting an average of less than $2.75 a gallon, according to Gas Buddy.

Trump’s approval on the economy is down to 41.1%, according to the RealClearPolling average of polls. Democrats swept high-profile November elections in Virginia, New Jersey and New York City, by focusing on the issue of “affordability.”