United States Fed inflation report pushes back on rate cut hopes

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Written on Mar 12, 2024

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Inflation numbers today showed a still-sticky inflation scenario for the United States.
Inflation rose 3.2% year-on-year and 0.4% month-on-month in February.
These latest figures may quench the rumours that rate cuts are coming for the US soon.

The United States’ Bureau of Labor Statistics released its data on February CPI and core inflation today.

The data showed that the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.4 percent in February on a seasonally adjusted basis, after rising 0.3 percent in January.

Source: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/cpi.pdf

Year-on-year, CPI for all items rose by 3.2% in the twelve months ended February 2024, before seasonal adjustment.

Core inflation (that is, inflation for all items less food and energy) rose 0.4 percent month-on-month in February, as it did in January and ahead of market expectations.

Ahead of the release, economists broadly expected CPI to be up roughly 3.1% year-on-year, and a 0.3% rise in core inflation month-on-month.

This means that both MoM and YoY inflation figures proved to be higher than estimates for February.