John J. Canally, Jr., CFA Chief Economic Strategist, LPL Financial
Read Time
The impact of economics on everyday life isn’t always clear, but the week ahead is different. Tuesday marks the fourth-busiest shopping holiday of the year — Valentine’s Day, and the following day sees the release of Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for January 2017. The consensus opinion of economists expects a month-over-month increase of 0.3% and a 2.1% rise year over year. Core inflation, which removes the impact of volatile food and energy prices, is expected to come in at 2.2% year over year. These numbers are important, but of even more near-term importance for those still looking for the right gift is how much more expensive common Valentine’s Day gifts have become over the last year.