The Morning Meeting with Al Tompkins is a daily Poynter briefing of story ideas worth considering and other timely context for journalists, written by senior faculty Al Tompkins. 

You can look at the newest inflation figures in a few ways:

• Inflation is not running as hot as it was the month before and maybe it has peaked.
• Inflation is still running at a near four-decade high and a little dip is a statistical blip. 
• Blip, dip, peak — who cares? Food, electricity and rents are rising faster than wages and we are going backward.

Wall Street was so confused by what to make of the figures that when the new inflation numbers emerged, the markets dropped like a rock, but by the end of the day, stocks made one of the biggest one-day turnarounds in history.

The newest Consumer Price Index figures show that food prices are rising at a double-digit rate and that the price of food people prepare at home is rising even faster than restaurant prices.   

As you know, gasoline prices dropped but are still 18% higher than a year ago. That drop in gasoline prices is way offset by an increase in electricity (+16%) and natural gas prices (+33%). 

Used car prices cooled a little bit last month but the price of new vehicles just kept going up.

According to the CPI summary, “The food at home index rose 13 percent over the last 12 months. The index for cereals and bakery products increased 16.2 percent over the year and the index for dairy and related products rose 15.9 percent. The remaining major grocery store food groups posted increases ranging from 9 percent (meats, poultry, fish and eggs) to 15.7 percent (other food at home).”

Here is the Consumer Price Index chart comparing inflation month-to-month and year-to-year. 

(Bureau of Labor Statistics)

The government’s summary provided a tidbit that journalists might explore, “The food at employee sites and schools index rose 44.9 percent in September, reflecting the expiration of some free school lunch programs.” 

Home rent and ownership is 6.7% higher than a year ago the biggest one-year increase on record and that heavily influences the overall inflation rate since the amount you pay for rent or monthly housing costs is such a large percentage of your monthly spending. Housing represents a third of the CPI.  If you leave out food and energy, almost 40% of the overall inflation rate is from the cost of housing.

Here are some other categories that journalists will be interested in:

• Motor vehicle insurance costs increased 1.6 percent in September after rising 1.3 percent in August.
• Airline fares rose 0.8% last month
• Get local by looking at your state-level inflation rate. The government also provides some metro data, but not all of it is updated at the same time. 

Wall Street experts said this figure, the last inflation report before the midterm elections,  virtually locks in another significant increase in interest rates when the Federal Reserve governors meet next month. 

While we are on the subject of food prices and such, take a luncheon journey with SFGate’s Nico Madrigal-Yankowski who explores why a hamburger in her town costs $30. 

And did you hear about the Fox Business contributor who blamed rising food costs for his $28 Taco Bell order?  He said it was just for him. Here is what the  Twittershpere calculated as the order — just add tax.

(Twitter)

Dan Marsh did the math and said it represents 2,010 calories, plus whatever the guac adds, and 3,515 mg of sodium. 

It’s official, January 1st, Social Security payments rise a record 8.7%

The Cost-of-Living Adjustment, or COLA, that links Social Security benefits to the Consumer Price Index will rise 8.7% in January, which makes this the largest COLA ever. Seventy million Americans will get the raise without doing anything. It is automatic.

(Social Security Administration)

The Social Security Administration announced:

The 8.7 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits payable to more than 65 million Social Security beneficiaries in January 2023. Increased payments to more than 7 million SSI beneficiaries will begin on December 30, 2022. (Note: some people receive both Social Security and SSI benefits). The Social Security Act ties the annual COLA to the increase in the Consumer Price Index as determined by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Beneficiaries can go to their my Social Security account to find out how much the raise means to them. 

The Social Security Administration also is raising the amount of earnings that are now subject to Social Security taxes. Currently, the maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax (taxable maximum) is $147,000.  The new cutoff is $160,200.

The Social Security Administration is also raising the amount that seniors can earn without being penalized. Currently, if a Social Security recipient who reached full retirement age earns more than $51.960 a year, the recipient loses a dollar in benefits for every three dollars they go over the limit.  The new threshold will be $56,520.

Medicare premiums are going down for the first time in a decade

In January, the standard monthly premium for Part B, medical insurance, will drop $5.20, from $170.10 to $164.90.  It is the first time since 2012 that Medicare premiums have dropped. 

This may be something of a surprise to most people who are used to Medicare costs rising.   Acting Commissioner Kilolo Kijakazi said, “Medicare premiums are going down and Social Security benefits are going up in 2023, which will give seniors more peace of mind and breathing room. This year’s substantial Social Security cost-of-living adjustment is the first time in over a decade that Medicare premiums are not rising and shows that we can provide more support to older Americans who count on the benefits they have earned.”

To remind you, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, explains: “Medicare Part B covers physician services, outpatient hospital services, certain home health services, durable medical equipment, and certain other medical and health services not covered by Medicare Part A. “

There is an interesting reason for the lower Medicare cost. The government built in a contingency in case the FDA approved the expensive and controversial drug Aduhelm as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. In April, the CMS said it would not cover the cost of Aduhelm for most patients. Far fewer people ended up using the drug than anticipated so the government found it could lower Medicare costs next year.  

You are about to begin seeing the annual flood of advertisements aimed at persuading seniors to change or sign up for Medicare coverage. The signup period, called Open Enrollment, begins tomorrow.

A recent study by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College said that the average retiree spends a fourth of what they receive from Social Security income on out-of-pocket medical costs not covered by Medicare.

The times in which we live

One of the most interesting stories of the day involves a pair of 120-year-old blue jeans found in a mining shaft. The filthy and ragged blue jeans sold at auction for $76,000, but with auction fees the buyers paid $87,000.

If the Levi’s are worth that much, it may be because the word imprinted on a back pocket tells a story of America’s history. The words are, “made by white labor.”

NBC Bay Area explains the context:

The San Francisco-based company said the phrase was added on its products after the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, prohibiting all Chinese laborers to the U.S. for 10 years, even though they had already made contributions to the country.

“It comes out of intersecting strands of racializing the Chinese as inferior, as ‘disease carriers,’ as economic competition,” said Dr. Catherine Ceniza Choy of UC Berkeley. “One of the things that we can learn is that the current surge in anti-Asian hate and violence against Asian Americans, especially around what has been called the ‘Chinese virus,’ is not new.”

Levi’s said in a statement that it thought the slogan would “improve sales and align with the views of consumers at the time.”

“This continued into the 1890s, when we reversed our policy,” company officials said.

The company added that it is fully committed to “advocate for real equality and to fight against racism in all its forms as it persists today.”

This is such a good example of a story that could have been as thin as the fabric on century-old jeans if the journalist only focused on the astonishing price. But getting beyond the “what happened” to the “why it happened” and the “so what” makes this a story that holds value. It teaches the reader/viewer/listener something they probably didn’t know. 

What if we thought of journalism as more like teaching and we thought of the public as more like students? 

What if we started each broadcast or edition  by asking ourselves, “what do I want people to learn today?” 

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