Steady Inflation and Rising Jobless Claims Clear Path For More Fed Easing
Underlying consumer price growth held relatively steady in the United States last month, and initial jobless claims jumped last week, giving the Federal Reserve room—and motivation—to cut at next week’s meeting. According to data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics this morning, the core consumer price index—with highly-volatile food and energy prices excluded—rose 0.35 percent in August, marking its highest level since January, and climbed 3.1 percent over the same period last year. This is broadly in line with consensus estimates among economists polled by the major data providers ahead of the release, but looks slightly more worrisome when...