Washington (awp/afp) – US inflation appeared to move in the opposite direction again in February, recovering slightly year-on-year, driven mainly by food and energy, but slowing from January, according to the PCE index, a benchmark favored by the Federal Reserve (Fed).
According to data released by the Commerce Department on Friday, consumer price growth rose to 2.5% year-on-year in February, compared with 2.4% in January, in line with market expectations, but slowed to 0.3 % in a month. , compared to 0.4% the previous month.
The index is in line with the expectations of analysts, who accurately predicted the figures, according to the consensus published by MarketWatch.
In contrast, so-called core inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, is falling, both over a month and over the year.
Over a month, the underlying PCE index fell to 0.3% from 0.5% in January, while over a year it fell to 2.8% from 2.9% a month earlier.
The PCE index is the preferred inflation measure by the US central bank, the Fed, which wants to reduce it to 2%, a target it wants to achieve by 2026.
In this case, it follows the trend observed on the other inflation index CPI, on which US pensions are indexed, which had also seen a small recovery in a year, but accelerated in a month.
The two indices do not measure exactly the same things, with the CPI index in particular taking a considerably more important place in the assessment of price developments in rental prices than the PCE index.
The Commerce Department also said household incomes slowed in February, down 0.3% from January, while their spending rose more sharply, from 0.3% in January to 0.8% over the month, which this time significantly higher than market expectations.
The inflation curve is closely watched by the Fed, which has been fighting its rise for more than two years. The main tool to tackle this is to raise interest rates between March 2022 and July 2023, which has pushed interest rates to the 5.25-5.50% range, the highest level in twenty years.
The institution now plans to start lowering it this year. But officials have largely held off in recent weeks, saying they prefer to wait several months to ensure inflation is unlikely to rebound.
However, according to CME Group’s FedWatch aggregator, analysts expect a first rate cut at the meeting scheduled for mid-June, while the next Fed meeting, scheduled for April 30 and May 1, should again conclude with a status quo on the area of interest. rate front.
afp/rp
Related Posts
More than 10 million French people have a pension savings plan
Sinopec’s first-quarter profits fall due to weak chemical business
