Kamis, 15 Agustus 2013

Beranda » » US consumer inflation rises to 2%

US consumer inflation rises to 2%

Gas stationPetrol prices have helped push up inflation in the US

The pace of US consumer price inflation increased in July, pushing the annual rate of inflation to 2% - the rate targeted by the Federal Reserve.

That was up 0.2% from the previous month, with petrol prices still rising.

The US Department of Labor said housing, food and clothing costs all increased, adding to inflation.

Analysts said the figures did not lessen the expectation that the Fed would begin rolling back its economic stimulus measures in the near future.

"There's nothing in [the] release to prevent the Fed from tapering [quantitative easing], probably next month," said Paul Dales, senior US economist at Capital Economics, in a research note.

Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke and most of his colleagues view the current low inflation rate as temporary, and see both growth and prices picking up later in the year.

In June, the Fed said it planned to keep the short-term interest rate at a record low close to zero until the jobless rate fell below 6.5% - provided inflation remained under control.

Analysts do not anticipate a rate rise in the near future, but increasingly expect the Fed to begin winding down its asset purchasing scheme, currently set at $85bn (£55bn) a month.

In recent weeks, several members of the Fed's rate-setting committee have suggested the "tapering" of the scheme could begin are early as September.



Source: BBC News - Business http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23710921#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa