Good news: Core inflation in the US was much cooler than expected last month, if you can believe it.

If you can’t — believe it — I won’t blame you. But neither will I venture any conspiracy theories, my editorial constitution being instinctually averse to such narratives.

Unrounded, Wednesday’s MoM core print from the BLS was just 0.208%, the second-coolest reading (that we can confirm, October and November’s figures being forever a mystery) in a year.

The month-to-month gain on the headline, all-items gauge, 0.473%, wasn’t too bad either all things considered, which is to say in the context of more outsized gains for the energy indexes.

Apparently, passthrough from the energy shock to underlying inflation remains limited. Consensus expected 0.3% from the MoM core print. The undershoot left the three-month annualized pace (relevant for obvious reasons) stable, at 3.2%.

On a YoY basis, core price growth was an as-expected 2.9%. The YoY headline print likewise matched estimates with a 4.2% gain. That was the most pronounced annual inflation in more than three years.

The energy index, which accounted for nearly two-thirds of the (rounded) 0.5% monthly gain for the headline index, rose 23.5% YoY.

As the figure shows, that’s among the larger increases on record, but it’s not “anomalous,” per se. This is, after all, a very volatile price category.

The food at home index was up 2.7% versus May of last year, but grocery price inflation moderated sharply MoM, with prices rising just 0.1% sequentially after a scorching 0.7% advance from March to April.

A quick look at the CPI-derived versions of PCE “supercore” inflation — i.e., core services price growth excluding housing — reveals a sharp deceleration. Stripping out the rent and OER measures, underlying services inflation ran 0.27% in May, down nearly half from April’s monthly pace. Excluding the shelter gauge, “supercore” inflation was about the same (0.26%), compared to the prior month’s 0.35% print.

Notably, core goods prices fell slightly MoM, while the core services line posted a 0.3% gain, down from April’s 0.5% advance.

Long story short: There was nothing to see in Wednesday’s inflation update, other than the residual fireworks from the energy shock. The relatively benign release is convenient ahead of next week’s FOMC meeting, Kevin Warsh’s first in the big seat.

That said, hawks on the Committee — and I dare say that’s a majority at this point — won’t be placated by this release. Not at all. Wednesday’s numbers were only “good” in the context of uncomfortably high inflation and palpable concern among American households about the read-across for their finances.