It has always seemed like a very laggy indicator to me. Eg, if inflation is brought under control, the YoY numbers will make it look like there is still inflation on-going for the next 12 months. To me, that seems almost dangerous, as it will provoke inflation countermeasures from the government, and inflation reactions from business & labor (price/wage increases) that will in turn lead to even more inflation..
3% YoY vs 4% last month and 9% last year are excellent, not pretty bad.
For comparison yoy inflation in 1983/1984 (massive win for the incumbent president) was >3% and >4% respectively with a significantly higher unemployment rate
