Nowflation Gauge holds at 2.96% YoY, ticking up 0.002pp daily as Motor Fuel's 30.29% YoY surge stays the dominant driver.

The Daily Brief · Fuel-led, gauge steady. Nowflation Gauge 2.96% year over year on 2026-09-06 — +0.002pp on the day, +0.034pp on the week, +0.051pp on the month; seasonally adjusted pace 1.55% annualized over three months and 3.89% over one. Official CPI 3.4% (July 2026, released 2026-08-12); gap −0.44pp, verified against the released print. About 43% of the basket is priced from live sources; the rest holds the latest BLS subindex as measured.

What moved

Gauge 2.96% YoY, +0.002pp on the day and +0.034pp on the week; seasonally adjusted pace 1.55% annualized over three months, 3.89% over one.
Motor Fuel +0.05% on the day (+1.69% on the week, 30.29% YoY) — +0.14bps to the headline.
Gauge runs −0.44pp versus the July 2026 print of 3.4%; August 2026 CPI lands in 5 days — Nowflation Forecast 3.36% vs Street 3.4%, Cleveland Fed 3.38%.

The wire

The Nowflation Gauge printed 2.96% YoY on September 6, up 0.002pp DoD, 0.034pp WoW and 0.051pp MoM, while cost-of-living inflation runs hotter at 4.07% YoY. Motor Fuel leads component moves, up 1.69% WoW and 2.6% MoM, holding 30.29% YoY and contributing 0.14bps to the daily change. Shelter: Owned rose 0.26% MoM (3.23% YoY) and Shelter: Rent added 0.16% MoM (1.68% YoY). The gauge sits 0.44pp below official July CPI (3.4% YoY, core 2.5%), consistent with the Nowflation Forecast's 3.285% for the August print versus Street's 3.4% consensus. Pump prices at $4.147 face an 8.3-cent forward pullback to $4.064 over two weeks.

The print ahead — August 2026 CPI, Friday, September 11, 2026 at 8:30 AM ET (in 5 days)

Forecaster	Headline CPI YoY call
Nowflation Forecast (pre-registered ensemble)	3.36%
Nowflation model (in-house)	3.29%
Street consensus	3.4%
Cleveland Fed nowcast	3.38%
Kalshi market-implied	3.38%
Prior print	3.4%

Our call sits −0.04pp versus the Street; the Gauge runs −0.44pp versus the July 2026 print of 3.4% that this release replaces. The forecast is a separate product from the Gauge — the Gauge measures today's prices; the forecast is the pre-registered call for what the BLS will print, graded after every release (August 2026 preview and grading).

Shelter, fuel, Truflation, jobs

Shelter: all-tenant rent index 1.68% YoY (+0.16% month over month), the reading the Gauge uses as measured; owned shelter 3.23% YoY; official rent 2.86% and owners' equivalent rent 3.23% (2026-07, BLS).
Fuel: pump price $4.147 (AAA daily, 2026-09-06), +6.9¢ on the week; RBOB implies $4.064 in two weeks (−8.3¢).
Truflation: 2.31% (2026-09-05); the Gauge is +0.65pp against it and Truflation is −1.09pp against the official print — a different construction, reconciled on the Nowflation vs Truflation page.
Jobs: September 2026 payrolls land October 2, 2026 (26 days): Nowflation model +91K vs Street +120K.

Method

The Nowflation Gauge is a measurement of today’s prices — live market sources for the components that have them (all-tenant rents measured from this month’s new leases, pump prices, used-vehicle auctions) and the latest BLS subindex, held as measured, for the rest. It is never a forecast. The print-day call is a separate product: the Nowflation Forecast is the pre-registered ensemble for the next CPI release (locked the evening before, graded after); the in-house model is shown alongside it. The wire paragraph is written by Claude from the day’s engine figures only (model alias in each record; a deterministic template when the API is unavailable). The “what moved” bullets are computed, not written. recomputed 8:40 AM & 6 PM ET · published 9 AM ET · 8:45 AM ET on print days. Methodology · every input, exposed · calendar feed, RSS and email.

Archive — one brief per day

Dashboard · Today's brief · CPI forecast · Scoreboard