Economy 📍

📽️ Videos

Gas Prices Push Up Inflation Rate – The New York Times

|

CPI Report Live Updates: Gas Prices Push Up Inflation Rate – The New York Times

Federal Reserve officials are likely to remain wary about the outlook for inflation following a report released Wednesday: Overall price increases sped up because of a pop in gas prices in August, and a more closely watched index that strips out volatile food and fuel prices climbed at a faster monthly pace than expected.

The Consumer Price Index climbed 3.7 percent in the year through August, the report showed. That was both faster than the 3.2 percent July reading, and slightly quicker than the 3.6 percent that economists had expected.

Households Less Optimistic about their Financial Situations – FEDERAL RESERVE BANK of NEW YORK

|

Households Less Optimistic about their Financial Situations – FEDERAL RESERVE BANK of NEW YORK

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data today released the August 2023 Survey of Consumer Expectations, which shows that inflation expectations were largely stable, rising slightly at the short- and longer-term horizons, and falling slightly at the medium-term horizon. Income growth perceptions declined in August, and job loss expectations rose sharply to its highest level since April 2021. Perceptions about current credit conditions and expectations about future conditions both deteriorated. Households’ perceptions about their current financial situations and expectations for the future also deteriorated.

NPR

|

Fed’s Jerome Powell warns the fight against inflation is far from over : NPR

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Friday inflation is still too high, and he warned that restoring price stability will likely require an extended period of elevated interest rates.

Speaking to a gathering of economists and central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyo., Powell said it's encouraging that inflation has cooled — from 9.1% last summer to 3.2% last month. Here's where inflation stands today — and why it's raising hope about the economy Economy Here's where inflation stands today — and why it's raising hope about the economy

But Powell stressed some of the improvement could be temporary, and he reiterated the Fed is committed to getting inflation all the way down to their 2% target.

"The process still has a long way to go," Powell said. "We are prepared to raise [interest] rates further if appropriate, and intend to hold policy at a restrictive level until we are confident that inflation is moving sustainably down toward our objective."

The central bank has already raised its benchmark interest rate from near zero in early 2022 to just over 5.25% today — in the most aggressive series of rate hikes since the early 1980s.