'We might need more than a few grains of salt': Top economists pan inflation report that effectively assumed housing inflation was zero

President Donald Trump addresses the nation from the Diplomatic Room of the White House on December 17, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Credit: Doug Mills - Pool/Getty Images)

The government’s long-delayed November inflation report appeared, at first glance, to deliver welcome news: Consumer prices rose only 2.7% from a year earlier, while core inflation cooled to 2.6%, the lowest reading in years. But for many economists, the numbers immediately raised red flags, especially on housing, the single largest component of inflation.

“This is a wacky number,” Diane Swonk, chief economist at KPMG, told Fortune. “Shelter costs basically flatlined October by carrying forward September. When housing is that large a component, that really matters.”