Investors may not want to take November US inflation at face value

US inflation data for November looked very encouraging, with headline interest rates for the year coming in 0.4 percentage points lower than expected. But there’s no need to rejoice just yet.

This is the first consumer price report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics since the end of the U.S. government shutdown. The October statistics disappeared into thin air because the department was “unable to collect these data retrospectively.”

The BLS added that the November CPI “does not include the one-month percentage change in November 2025, where data for October 2025 is missing.” It also said that some survey data “will be carried forward from September 2025 to October 2025.”

Evercore ISI’s Krishna Guha said the BLS appears to be “zeroing out inflation in multiple categories” when calculating housing inflation in some cities.

In other words, it’s a noisy report. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell once described setting interest rates as “navigating by the stars under a cloudy sky.” According to a November CPI report, the stars may not only be hidden by clouds, but they could also be mirages, unidentified flying objects, or seagulls that picked up LED lights from the beach.

Nevertheless, investors welcomed the numbers. With a 10.2% increase in the CPI report; micron Stock prices rose on the back of earnings announcements that beat expectations, pushing up major indexes.

Perhaps it’s because the air during the holiday season is filled with unrestrained cheerfulness. Or maybe it’s more like having a feast at Christmas. The only time you need to worry about calories is in the new year.

—CNBC’s Sean Conlon contributed to this report.