Are US inflationary pressures broadening?
The latest consumer price index is released on Tuesday, giving policymakers and investors fresh insight into how persistent a concern higher US inflation will become.
Consumer prices have shot higher this year, with the pace of annual gains hovering around a 13-year high as of July. On a month-to-month basis, price increases have moderated somewhat, but now the focus is shifting to whether sectors beyond those most sensitive to pandemic-related disruptions, which have so far driven the bulk of the higher inflation prints, are starting to register higher gains.
Consensus forecasts compiled by Bloomberg predict a 5.3 per cent year-over-year increase in the CPI index for August, right in line with the 5.4 per cent pace recorded the previous month. From July, prices are expected to have risen 0.4 per cent, down from 0.5 per cent during the previous period. Stripping out volatile items like energy and food, “core” measures are set to be 4.3 per cent higher than in August 2020.