Year-over-year consumer price growth in the US came in softer than forecast in November, yet this cooling is likely just a seasonal blip rather than a real trend reversal. The real story? Everyday Americans are still getting squeezed on costs. Energy, food, housing—the essentials keep getting more expensive, and trade tariffs continue to put pressure on import prices, making that affordability gap even wider.

For market watchers, this paints a complicated picture. Headline inflation looking better on paper masks the persistent cost-of-living pain that households are experiencing. Meanwhile, the tariff factor adds another layer of uncertainty to the outlook, making it harder to predict what comes next for pricing power and consumer behavior.