The media reports that Trump would like to see are simply NOT there….
Americans KNOW prices have NOT dropped….
The War is on going with Gas prices $1.00+ Higher that they where before Trump went on his tariff and War crusades….
Some of also know that government people who turn out REAL bad news could lose their jobs…..
The July report DOES say prices have RAISED ‘slightly’?
Prices rose 0.1 percent in July from a month earlier, and 3.4 percent from the previous year on a seasonally adjusted basis, as the war in the Middle East keeps energy prices elevated.
Stripping out volatile food and energy prices, the Consumer Price Index rose 2.5 percent over the year, the Labor Department reported Wednesday.
“It’s reassuring that we’ve stepped down in terms of some of the pressures we were seeing early this year,” said Josh Hirt, an economist with Vanguard’s Investment Strategy Group. “But this is still putting us on a track that doesn’t necessarily bring the year over year rate at the end of the year below three percent.”
Grocery prices declined slightly over the month, as the cost of meat, fish, poultry and eggs fell. That should give policymakers some reassurance that high energy prices have not translated fully into food costs.
However, the war’s impact on fuel costs was visible in airline fares, which jumped 2.2 percent since June and are up 25.5 percent over the past year. Computer software and accessories also pushed the index higher, rising 0.5 percent over the month, reflecting the artificial intelligence boom that has exploded the demand for memory chips.
The economy has also been working off the effects of tariffs. Some retailers are making selective price cuts as they receive refunds for earlier tariffs they paid that were ruled illegal by the Supreme Court. Recreational commodities, which includes sporting goods like bicycles that are heavily imported, climbed by 0.6 percent.
The overall annual inflation rate for July remains above the 3.2 percent increase in average hourly earnings over the same period, which means that workers are still losing ground in terms of their spending power.
The report comes as the Federal Reserve is weighing whether to raise interest rates, after leaving them steady all year despite inflation that has been running above the central bank’s 2 percent target for more than five years.
Three of the 12 members of the Fed’s policy committee voted in favor of raising rates last month. But a very weak jobs report for July may heighten concerns that increasing borrowing costs could break a fragile labor market. The committee will get another inflation reading before its next meeting in September….
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