US inflation may have risen only modestly last month as Fed officials signal no rate hike is likely
Inflation in the United States likely eased again last month, though the decline might have slowed since summer, a reminder that the outsize price pressures of the past two years will take more time to cool
WASHINGTON (AP) — Inflation in the United States likely eased again last month, though the decline might have slowed since summer, a reminder that the outsize price pressures of the past two years will take more time to cool.
Consumer prices are forecast to have risen 0.3% from August to September, according to economists surveyed by the data provider FactSet. Such a rise would be much slower than the previous month's 0.6% price increase but still too fast to match the Fed's 2% inflation target.
Excluding volatile food and energy costs, “core” prices likely also rose 0.3% in September, the same as in August. The Federal Reserve tracks the core figure in particular as a good indicator of the likely future path of inflation.
Thursday's inflation data could bolster — or undercut — the growing belief that the Fed can tame inflation through the series of 11 interest rate hikes it imposed beginning in March 2022 without causing a recession.
