Connect with us

Economics

CPI inflation October 2024:

Published

on

Inflation perked up in October though pretty much in line with Wall Street expectations, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday.

The consumer price index, which measures costs across a spectrum of goods and services, increased 0.2% for the month. That took the 12-month inflation rate to 2.6%, up 0.2 percentage point from September.

The readings were both in line with the Dow Jones estimates.

Excluding food and energy, the move was even more pronounced. Core CPI accelerated 0.3% for the month and was at 3.3% annually, also meeting forecasts.

Stock market futures nudged higher following the release while Treasury yields fell.

Energy costs, which had been declining in recent months, were flat in October while the food index increased 0.2%. On a year-over-year basis, energy was off 4.9% while food was up 2.1%.

Despite signs of moderating elsewhere, shelter prices continued to be a major contributor to the CPI move. The shelter index, which carries about a one-third weighting in the broader index, climbed another 0.4% in October, double its September move and up 4.9% on an annual basis. The category was responsible for more than half the gain in the all-items CPI measure, according to the BLS.

The readings took inflation further away from the Federal Reserve’s 2% goal and could complicate the central bank’s monetary policy strategy going forward, particularly with a new administration taking over the White House in January.

President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to implement more tariffs and government spending have the potential both to boost growth and aggravate inflation, which remains a substantial problem for U.S. households despite easing off its meteoric peak in mid-2022.

Consequently, traders in recent days have scaled back their anticipation for Fed rate cuts ahead. The central bank already has lopped off 0.75 percentage point from its key borrowing rate and had been expected to move aggressively ahead.

However, traders now expect just another three-quarters of a point in cuts through the end of 2025, about half a point less than priced in prior to the presidential election.

This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.

Economics

Climate change and the next administration

Published

on

“IT IS CLEAR the next administration will try to do a U-turn and reverse much of this progress,” declared John Podesta, America’s climate tsar, at a UN climate summit held this week in Azerbaijan. His statement to the gathered greens and diplomats acknowledged a shared anxiety. Donald Trump has vowed to yank America out of the UN’s Paris climate agreement for a second time. Meanwhile conservative energy wonks around Mr Trump want him to make a push in three areas.

Continue Reading

Economics

Back to the 1850s

Published

on

Immigrant voters may have won America’s presidential election for the nativist candidate

Continue Reading

Economics

The promise Donald Trump is sure to keep

Published

on

Donald Trump’s politics are so elastic that it is impossible to be certain what he means when he promises, as he did on election night, to “govern by a simple motto: promises made, promises kept”. Will he judge himself a failure if he does not end the war in Ukraine before he takes office?

Continue Reading

Trending