US consumer prices post biggest monthly drop since 2020
The report gave US Fed officials some room ahead of their meeting later this month, economists said, though several cautioned that the data had already been overtaken by events.
“For the Fed, this is a relief, but not enough to put it at ease,” Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, said in comments reported by Reuters, adding that he expected prices to accelerate again as energy costs rose.
Kevin Warsh, the US Fed chair, told Congress on Tuesday the central bank had “no tolerance for persistently elevated inflation,” Reuters reported, and pledged that the inflation surge of the past five years would become “a thing of the past.”
He gave no signal on the US central bank’s next move.
US policymakers remain split, according to minutes of the Fed’s June 16-17 meeting cited by AP, with about half backing an increase by year end and the rest willing to wait for firmer evidence that inflation is cooling.
