Prices rose 0.5% in July compared to June, a smaller increase than June compared to May (0.9%) and in line with analysts’ expectations.
–
Inflation slowed in the United States in July over one month, and is stable over one year, a reassuring sign in the face of fears about a lasting surge in consumer prices, according to the CPI index published on Wednesday by the Labor Department. .
Prices rose 0.5% in July compared to June, a smaller increase than June compared to May (0.9%) and in line with analysts’ expectations.
Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core inflation slows even more, to 0.3% from 0.9%.
And over one year, compared to July 2020, inflation is stable at 5.4% as in June. Last summer in fact, prices had started to rise again, after falling in the spring under the effect of containment measures.
But the rise in prices is mainly driven by the surge in oil prices, which jumped 41.2% compared to July 2020.
Core inflation is only 3.4%, but continues to accelerate compared to June (2.4%).
The White House on Wednesday accused the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (Opep +) of not doing “enough” on oil production, threatening the recovery of the world economy.
“Rising gasoline costs, if left unchecked, could harm the ongoing global recovery,” criticized US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in a statement obtained by AFP .
“While OPEC + recently agreed to increase production, it will not erase the cuts it imposed during the pandemic,” he added.
Consumer prices have been soaring for several months, driven by strong demand linked to the reopening of the economy and global supply difficulties.
Added to this are the difficulties that employers encounter in recruiting, especially for the lowest salaries, and which push them to increase salaries to attract candidates.
Inflation is expected to slow in 2022, according to the US central bank and the IMF, but there are risks that it will be stronger and longer than expected, they recently warned.
And the colossal infrastructure renovation project led by Joe Biden, and which passed the first stage of its adoption in Congress on Tuesday, is fueling fears of lasting price increases, a risk that the Biden administration disputes.
For the first time in months, inflation remained stable in June compared to May, according to another index measuring it, the PCE index, used by the Fed, at 4% on a year and 0.5% on a month.
For the second quarter as a whole, prices climbed at their fastest pace since 1982, at 6.4%. Core inflation even experienced its biggest increase since 1975, to 6.1%.
–
