Inflation mostly holds still in April – and why that might be a good thing

Today’s inflation report could be the start of what the central bank expects

57 minutes ago

Friday’s data on personal consumption expenditures (PCE) from the Bureau of Economic Analysis could cheer Federal Reserve officials after warmer-than-expected inflation reports earlier in the year. bad

The central bank aims to reduce inflation by keeping borrowing costs high for all types of credit, stimulating spending, and allowing supply and demand to realign. Central bank officials in recent weeks have said they will keep inflation at a 23-year low for as long as it takes to moderate.

Economists said a single inflation report would not be enough to convince the central bank that inflation has been defeated and that they can safely cut the benchmark Fed funds rate. A string of similarly cool inflation reports over the summer, however, could set the stage for rate cuts later in the year, many economists said.

Read more about how optimism for a rate cut has been curbed.

Today is the last day before the Federal Reserve blackout period begins

4 hours 30 minutes ago

Today is the last chance for Federal Reserve officials to comment before the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting begins.

Today’s scheduled speaker is Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostick, who will deliver the commencement address this evening at Augusta Technical College.

The blackout period begins on Saturday, June 1 and lasts until Thursday, June 13. At the time, Fed officials were barred from issuing comments or statements about monetary policy ahead of the June 11 FOMC meeting.

The blackout period does not include Chairman Jerome Powell’s scheduled press conference on Wednesday, June 12 at 2:30 p.m., where he will discuss the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates and the FOMC’s comments on economic conditions. The central bank is not expected to move rates to 5.5% from their current levels of 5.25%.

Central bankers can make public comments on Friday, June 14. Chicago Fed President Austin Goolsbee is one official scheduled to make remarks that day.

— Terry Lane

Inflation remains steady in April

7 hours 16 minutes ago

Consumer prices rose 0.3% in April from March, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s personal consumption expenditures (PCE) measure. It gained 2.7% year-on-year, according to an inflation measure released on Friday.

Those figures were the same as in March and matched forecasts from Dow Jones newswires and forecasters. The Wall Street Journal.

The result could ease fears that higher-than-expected inflation-driven price rises are accelerating again in the first quarter.

More importantly, „core” inflation, which excludes volatile prices for food and energy, rose 0.2%, down from a 0.3% rate in March. This is significant as Federal Reserve officials focus on core inflation. They see it as an indicator of broader inflationary trends and take it into account when setting the central bank’s monetary policy, which greatly affects interest rates on all types of debt.