December 2012 Inflation Report And Future I Bond Rate

The Labor Department released December CPI numbers this morning. According to Bloomberg:

The cost of living was little changed in December, capping the third-smallest annual gain in the past decade, indicating U.S. inflation remains at bay.

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Based on these numbers, the Fed won't be worrying about inflation. According to Calculated Risk Blog:

On a year-over-year basis, CPI is up 1.7 percent, and core CPI is up 1.9 percent.  Both below the Fed's target. This was at the consensus forecast of no change for CPI, and a 0.1% increase in core CPI.

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The low CPI numbers are not good for future I Bond inflation rates. According to the Savings Bond Advisor:

If inflation for all six months of the period matches the rate during the first three months, the next I bond inflation component would be zero.

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