© Reuters.
Investing.com – U.S. inflation rose again in February, prompting the Federal Reserve to wait until at least the summer before starting to cut interest rates.
The Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday that the Consumer Price Index, a broad measure of the costs of goods and services, rose 0.4% over the month and 3.2% from a year ago. The monthly increase was in line with expectations, but the annual rate was slightly higher than experts’ expectations of 3.1%.
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Excluding volatile food and energy prices, the core CPI rose 0.4% month-on-month and rose 3.8% year-on-year. Both were a tenth of a percentage point higher than expected.
While the 12-month pace is far from the peak of inflation in mid-2022, it remains well above the Fed’s 2% target as the central bank approaches its two-day-a-week policy meeting.
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The release comes as Federal Reserve officials look to determine the appropriate balance for monetary policy in 2024. Although financial markets have been eyeing significant interest rate cuts, monetary policymakers have been more cautious in their public statements, focusing On the need to appeal to data rather than pre-determined expectations.
Fed officials expect inflation to fall to their annual target of 2%, largely because they believe home prices will slow during the year. February’s higher-than-expected increase could be a problem for the central bank, which is looking to take its foot off the brakes on monetary policy at its tightest in more than two decades.
Inflation data details
The index for February recorded an increase of about 3.2%, while expectations indicated an increase of only 3.1%, which is the same as January’s reading.
As for 0.4% in February, which is what experts expected, while the reading recorded in January was 0.3%.
While (excluding food and energy) on an annual basis, it recorded 3.8% in February, and experts’ expectations indicated an increase of only 3.7%. It recorded 0.4% in February, while expectations indicated a recording of only 0.3%.
Gold and dollar now
It is now falling by 0.11% to $2,186 an ounce.
While it fell by 0.1% to $2181 per ounce.
On the other hand, it declines to the level of 102,380 points, by 0.09%.
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