It is a second camera angle that removes some jumpy prices to help reveal a trend.
01
Go deeper
The removed items still matter to households. Core and headline measures answer different questions, and core inflation is not a household cost-of-living budget. Specify whether the index is CPI or PCE.
02
Make it concrete
Hypothetical illustration. Hypothetically, petrol prices jump while other prices rise modestly. Headline inflation can increase faster than core inflation.
03
When you read a headline
Excluding food and energy does not mean their costs are unimportant or that future inflation is known.