The U.S. personal consumption expenditures price index, the statistic chosen by the Federal Reserve (Fed) to monitor inflation, remained unchanged in July at 2.5% year-on-year.
The underlying variable, which excludes food and energy prices from its calculation due to their greater volatility, closed the seventh month of 2024 with an increase of 2.6%, also unchanged from the previous month's data. For its part, the quantity of food products increased by 1.4% and the energy bill by 1.9%, as revealed this Friday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the Department of Commerce.
In monthly rates, the headline index posted a reading of 0.2% versus 0.1% in June after rising by a tenth, while the underlying remained unchanged at 0.2%, inform European press.
To cope with rising prices, the Fed raised interest rates eleven times in a row starting in March 2022 and stopping this cycle in July 2023. They are now within the target range of 5.25% to 5.5%. its highest level since January 2001.
At its last meeting on July 31, the Fed chose to maintain its benchmark rate and indicated that it did not expect it to be “appropriate” to reduce it until it acquires greater security that inflation was gradually returning to 2%.
He nevertheless stressed that inflation had declined over the past year and acknowledged that in recent months there had been “more progress” in this matter, even though inflation remained “somewhat high”. In any case, she indicated that she would now be attentive not only to risks on the price side, but also to employment.