The Inflation Fight May Be About to Turn Painful

A facts-only brief, written by a local AI model from this article in The Wall Street Journal, November 12, 2026. It may contain mistakes, and it is not the article: the full story is at wsj.com.

October consumer price data showed a 0.4% monthly increase, with the core index rising 0.3% for the third consecutive month. The author argues this marks a shift toward a more painful inflation cure, noting that Cleveland Fed measures indicate broad-based price increases rather than isolated shocks. Goldman Sachs predicts these residual effects could persist through the first half of 2027. The author contends that if inflation remains stuck around 3%, the Federal Reserve must create economic slack through slower growth and higher unemployment, which would require considerably higher interest rates.

Background

• Core inflation stands at 2.8% using the CPI and 3.1% using the Federal Reserve’s preferred index.
• Fed Governor Christopher Waller expressed concern that low job turnover suggests impediments to labor mobility, potentially leading to less efficient worker distribution.
• Two Federal Reserve voters, Lorie Logan and Christopher Waller, made hawkish remarks on Tuesday that put a half-point rate increase on the table for December.
• The Kitchen Table Project, led by Lael Brainard, proposed government ceilings on upfront housing and healthcare costs, including $1,000 down payment mortgages for first-time buyers.

Read the full article at wsj.com

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