Washington (WBAP/KLIF)- The July Consumer Price Index report shows inflation jumped by point-two-percent from month-to-month and three-point-two-percent from July 20-22 … but that’s down sharply from a year ago, when it was over nine percent year-over-year.
Prices for core goods (excluding volatile gas and food prices) rose 0.2 percent in July (also at market expectations and the same as June) and by 4.7 percent year-over-year, a tick down from June’s 4.8 percent. s lowest such rate since September 2021.
Meantime, most Federal Reserve officials last month regarded high inflation as an ongoing threat that could require further interest rate increases, according to the minutes of their July 25-26 meeting.
At the same time, the officials saw “a number of tentative signs that inflation pressures could be abating.” It was a mixed view that echoed Chair Jerome Powell’s noncommittal stance about future rate hikes at a news conference after the meeting.
According to the minutes, the Fed’s policymakers also said that despite signs of progress on inflation, it remained well above their 2% target. They “would need to see more data … to be confident that inflation pressures were abating” and on track to return to their target.
(Copyright 2023 WBAP/KLIF 24/7 News. This report contains material from Fox News and AP.)
