Inflation, significantly accelerating over the past year and cooling a bit last month, has businesses and consumers concerned over what will happen on Tuesday when the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its CPI Report.
Today’s report will be important for understanding what type of inflation we’re seeing and whether it’s something retailers are going to need to start taking into account.
The report will give insights about inflation for the last month (July), and this will help experts estimate the economic forecasts for coming months.
Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. ET, the consumer price index for August will be announced, and it is anticipated to reveal that inflation is slowing down.
CPI to grow by 0.3% excluding energy and fuel, but to fall by 0.1% overall.
The report is regarded as essential information for the Federal Reserve’s rate decision next week.
Inflation is expected to have slowed in August. But it’s not yet time to celebrate. (Yes, the reports are not out yet and all…)
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Core inflation is expected to rise. Consensus says that the actual “headline” inflation will fall. However, excluding the energy and food categories, core inflation is a better gauge of overall inflation. Economists are predicting core CPI will tick up to an annual rate of 6.1%, up from 5.9% in July.
By measuring core inflation, economists attempt to isolate what is happening to general prices without distraction from spikes in volatile food and energy prices.
The divergence between core inflation and headline inflation is a strong indicator that the Fed should view the recent inflation uptick as temporary, Investmentals’ economists say.
The Fed would want to see more sustained signs before it raises rates on the 21st of September’s meeting.
Update
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has officially released August’s CPI, and it has increased 0.1 percent. Inflation has slowed just slightly, from 8.5 to 8.3 percent.
