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The role of commodity prices in forecasting U.S. core inflation

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Abstract

This note documents a curious finding about the substantial forecast ability of a simple aggregator of three commodity futures prices for U.S. core inflation. The proposed aggregator reduces the out-of-sample root mean squared error for 12-month-ahead inflation forecasts of the benchmark AR(1) model by 28 percent (20 percent) for the PCE (CPI) measure of core inflation. To avoid obfuscation of the sources of forecast ability, the model is intentionally kept simple, although extensions for improving and increasing the robustness of the forecast procedure are also discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Nikolay Gospodinov, 2016. "The role of commodity prices in forecasting U.S. core inflation," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2016-5, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedawp:2016-05
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Anthony Garratt & Ivan Petrella, 2022. "Commodity prices and inflation risk," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(2), pages 392-414, March.
    2. Gospodinov, Nikolay & Maasoumi, Esfandiar, 2021. "Generalized aggregation of misspecified models: With an application to asset pricing," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 222(1), pages 451-467.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • C53 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Forecasting and Prediction Models; Simulation Methods
    • E37 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Forecasting and Simulation: Models and Applications
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates

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