Well-prepared markets take hotter-than-expected inflation print in stride
Consumer price growth accelerated in the United States last month, suggesting that January’s hotter-than-expected print signalled a re-acceleration in underlying inflation pressures, and raising the odds on a more hawkish outlook from the Federal Reserve at next week’s policy 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 3.8 percent in February from the same period last year, up 0.4 percent on a month-over-month basis. This slightly exceeded consensus estimates among economists polled by the major data providers ahead of the...