One subsiding red wave is actually good news — the red ink in your budget caused by inflation, which might have peaked and be on its way back down. Today’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) report brings some welcome news, given that inflation in October came in below those always-entertaining expert expectations. But…

CPI increased 0.4% in October, and it’s now 7.7% for the year. The latter number is the best rate since January. It’s down from 8.2% in September and continues an overall downward trend in the annual rate from June’s peak of 9.1%. But cumulative inflation since Joe Biden signed the inflationary American Rescue Plan is still nearly 13%, month-over-month inflation is still expanding faster than July and August when Biden was touting 0%, and even an annual rate of 7.7% is a far cry from the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%.

There’s also the fact that much of the slowdown was caused by a decline in prices for a few things like medical care, apparel, and used cars. On the flip side, shelter costs increased 0.8%, the most since 1990. “Also, fuel oil prices exploded 19.8% higher for the month and are up 68.5% on a 12-month basis,” CNBC reports. “The food index rose 0.6% for the month and 10.9% annually, while energy was up 1.8% and 17.6%, respectively.” Gas prices were up 4% for the month and 17.5% for the year.

Thanks to inflation, wages are also down 0.1% for the month and 2.8% for the year. And the Federal Reserve is on track to continue raising interest rates, having already done so five times in 2022 for a cumulative hike of three percentage points. That has greatly slowed the housing market and could tip the country back into recession.

Finally, price increases may slow down, and many months (or years) from now inflation may return to 2%, but we’re unlikely to ever return to pre-inflation prices on much of anything.

Meanwhile, Biden is obstinately insisting he won’t change course after the midterm elections, when many voters did indeed stubbornly choose to stick with Democrats because they’re more afraid of Donald Trump or losing the “right” to terminate preborn babies than they are about the economy or their own family budget.

However, there’s still some good news. Republicans have almost certainly won control of the House, and the Senate is still in play. That means gridlock in Washington instead of the “progressives” passing their destructive legislative agenda. That may give stock markets time to recover as businesses can plan for not much happening in DC. Maybe the economy can regain its legs without major Democrat agenda items as well.

Besides, as Biden said of inflation Wednesday, “I am optimistic.” What could go wrong?