In monthly terms, consumer prices fell one tenth. Data such as that of inflation known this Thursday will have a lot of weight in future decisions made by the Fed regarding interest rates.
The year-on-year rate of inflation in the United States it continued to drop in December, for the sixth consecutive month, and stood at 6.5%, 6 tenths below that of November, according to data published this Thursday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS, in English).
in monthly terms consumer prices fell one tenthat a time when we are closely watching whether the rises in interest rates by the Federal Reserve (Fed) have an effect on price containment in the US.
The index of the Gasoline it was, by far, the one that contributed the most to the monthly decrease in prices as it fell 9.4% monthly, while the food index increased 0.3% during the last month of the year.
As the BLS recalls, the inflation rate of 6.5% is the lowest since October 2021. Core inflation, which excludes energy and food prices, stood at 5.7% in its interannual rate, after rising 0.3 pp this month.
The inflation data is known at a time when all eyes are on whether the constant interest rate hikes carried out by the Fed are having the desired price-containing effect.
The last one took place last December, which was the seventh since March. Although it was half a point, compared to the four consecutive rises of 0.75, the Fed has made it clear that the increases are not going to stop for the moment.
The next increase will be decided by the members of the Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) at their next meeting, which will take place on January 31 and February 1.
Data such as that of inflation known this Thursday will have a lot of weight in the future decisions of the regulator, as its president, Jerome Powell, has explained on numerous occasions.