White House's Hassett tells Fox Business Trump has right read on inflation

NEW YORK, Dec 19 (Reuters) - White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett, who is on a short-list as future Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, said on Fox Business Friday that the president is right when he says inflation is very low, even as the data and most economists stand at odds with this view.

Hassett said that the widespread practice of evaluating inflation on a year-over-year basis is off base and it’s better to look at price pressures on a three-month moving average. That means that instead of price pressures outstripping the Fed’s 2% target by a lot, they’re actually below target, Hassett said, adding “that's the way the president is thinking about it, too.”