All posts tagged "Indicator"

Washington (AFP) - A key indicator of US inflation cooled in June to the lowest annual rate in over two years, although this remains above the central bank's target, according to government data released Friday. The Federal Reserve's preferred gauge of inflation, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, rose 3.0 percent last month from June 2022, down from a 3.8 percent jump in May, said the Commerce Department. From May to June, the PCE price index ticked up 0.2 percent, a touch above the 0.1 percent rate in the prior month. But spending climbed 0.5 percent between May and Jun......

Washington (AFP) - US consumer inflation cooled in June to its lowest rate since early 2021, according to government data released Wednesday -- an encouraging sign for policymakers battling cost-of-living pressures. The key inflation gauge, the consumer price index (CPI), rose 3.0 percent from a year ago last month, the smallest increase since March 2021 and down from 4.0 percent in May, said the Labor Department. The US Federal Reserve has raised interest rates rapidly over the last year to ease demand and bring down price growth. While Fed officials have signaled that further rate hikes are ......

Washington (AFP) - Consumer inflation in the United States slipped in December to the lowest level in over a year, government data showed on Thursday, signaling the worst of red-hot price increases may be over. As American households struggled with decades-high inflation in the last year, the Federal Reserve hiked its benchmark lending rate at a pace unheard of since the 1980s, in hopes of cooling the world's biggest economy. The downward trend marks the sixth consecutive month of easing, and could fuel hope for some reprieve from steeply rising interest rates. The consumer price index (CPI) l......

Washington (AFP) - The US economy added far more jobs than expected in June and wages rose, according to government data released Friday which could fuel fears about accelerating inflation. There were 372,000 new positions added in the month, nearly 100,000 more than economists forecast, and the unemployment rate held steady at 3.6 percent, the Labor Department reported. Average hourly earnings rose to cement a 5.1 percent increase over the past 12 months, the report said, while the share of adults in the labor force was little changed. The data will provide little comfort to the Federal Reser......

Washington (AFP) - US inflation resurged in May, defying hopes price pressures would slow, and posting the largest increase since December 1981 as Americans continue to shell out ever more for food and gas, according to data released Friday. Consumer prices in the world's largest economy have soared by the fastest pace in more than four decades, with gas prices at the pump hitting new records daily amid the fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine as well as ongoing supply chain challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic. US President Joe Biden, whose popularity has taken a hit as prices surge, ......

Washington (AFP) - Against expectations, US retail sales rose in June, the Commerce Department said Friday, with shoppers stepping up purchases at department stores and electronics outlets as pandemic business restrictions ease. Sales rose 0.6 percent last month to $621.3 billion, beating forecasts for a decline after they fell by a downwardly revised 1.7 percent in May, the data said. Sales jumped the most at department stores, electronics and appliance retailers and clothing outlets, as well as at gas stations, likely a consequence of rising oil prices and an increase in domestic travel. Mot......