I’m assuming that by “number” you mean the CPI increased in the last quarter at an annualized rate of, say 2 percent. And by “trend” you mean, the CPI trended upward as it increased last year by 2 percent and this year it has increased by 5 percent at an annualized rate.
Because the CPI is a political football, the number matters. Imagine how different the political treatment of monetary policy would be if the official CPI numbers were as Shadowstats calculates them.
