So when worldwide events like the Covid-19 pandemic push inflation well above that 2% target, it can be a real shock to consumers. There are a handful of retail categories, dominated by consumer electronics, that buck the trend and are actually cheaper now than they were before the pandemic, based on a CNBC review of CPI categories in June 2024 compared with June 2019. Same price, better valueEven when annual inflation was at its peak, prices for consumer electronics consistently showed signs of deflation. Such hedonic adjustments — the term BLS uses to describe it's adjustments for changes in item quality — span the whole consumer price index and include categories from men's underwear to home computers to refrigerators. Why televisions continue to be cheapBut hedonic adjustments can't account for everything when the CPI is registering drops in prices.

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Persons: it's, Andrew Csicsila, That's, Csicsila Organizations: U.S . Federal Reserve, U.S . Bureau of Labor Statistics, CNBC, CPI, Bureau of Labor Statistics Locations: Americas