The producer price index, which is often regarded as a leading indicator of where consumer inflation
is headed in several months, rose 0.7 per cent last month from December, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics said yesterday, that surpassed economists’ expectations for a 0.4 per cent increase. On an annual basis, the PPI, which tracks prices paid to US producers for goods and services, was up 6 per cent from a year ago. That marked a moderation from 6.5 per cent in December but came in well above market forecasts for 5.4 per cent.
Last month, a blockbuster non-farm payrolls report showed the US economy added more than half a million jobs in January, and the jobless rate fell to a 53year-low of 3.4 per cent. Fed chair Jay Powell then warned rates might rise more than investors expect as the firm labour market could mean it takes longer for the Fed to hit its 2 per cent target. The S&P 500 was down 0.6 per cent in morning trading, having managed on Wednesday to take stronger than forecast retail sales data in its stride. The yield on the interest rate-sensitive two-year US Treasury rose 0.02 percentage points to 4.65 per cent, leaving it close to a three-month high struck in the previous session.
The move from 9 per cent to 6 per cent will prove to be much less challenging than the journey from 6 per cent to 3 per cent,» Lynch said of price inflation levels.
It's going to take some work and probably around a year to get inflation to a decent level. And it could not even happen this year. Things are hard to predict especially in the US.
ReplyDeleteEspecially since they predicted a 0.4% increase and they ended up with a 0.7% one which is almost double. This alone will make things more difficult.
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