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US consumer prices rose 3% a year in June, a big jump from 4% a year in May, but probably not enough to deter the Federal Reserve from resuming interest rate hikes at its next meeting. this month.
Exactly one year ago, inflation in the United States reached its highest point in four decades and prompted the Central Bank to launch an aggressive monetary tightening campaign, with interest rates not seen in years.
In June 2022, the annual variation of the consumer price index was 9.2%. Today, one year later, and with expensive credit designed to moderate consumption, that rate has slowed to 3% per year, according to the report published this Wednesday, July 12, by the Department of Statistics.
The financial market received the news with joy: it is the lowest inflation level in more than two years and prices in June remained almost stable compared to the month immediately before. But also with reservation: inflation is still well above the target of 2% per year.
Analysts believe that this Wednesday’s data will allow the Federal Reserve to open a more encouraging chapter in the upcoming discussions about its interest rates, which today are in a range of between 5% and 5.25%, when recently over a year were between 0% and 0.25%.
That Fed intervention rate serves as a benchmark for interbank lending and ultimately affects interest on products ranging from savers’ deposits to credit cards and consumer loans in general.
With Reuters and AP
