The continuing US government shutdown has stopped official data releases, which will leave investors without the September inflation data that had been scheduled for publication on Wednesday.
Economists polled by Bloomberg had expected the consumer price index from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to show an increase in inflationary pressures. Instead, the BLS said on Friday that it planned to release its data on October 24.
The CPI release, while more than a week late, will still come in time for the Federal Reserve’s rate-setters, which next meet on October 28-29, to factor it into their policy decision. At their last meeting, they signalled a greater focus on the risks from a slowing labour market than from rising inflation. The “dot plot”, the Fed’s survey of its own members’ forecasts, suggests that policymakers expect inflation to be running at 3 per cent by year-end, slightly above the current rate.