United States: Inflation decelerates in July from the prior month
Latest reading: Consumer prices rose 3.4% in annual terms in July, following a 3.5% rise in the previous month. The figure was in line with market expectations but still well above the Fed’s 2.0% target.
Relative to the previous month’s data, there were milder price pressures for housing (+3.2% in annual terms vs +3.3% in June), transportation (+5.6% vs +6.2% in June) and energy (+14.4% vs +15.5% in June). Finally, the change in food prices was the same as in the prior month (+3.0% in July and June).
Meanwhile, core consumer prices were up 2.5% in annual terms in July, following a 2.6% rise in the previous month.
Finally, consumer prices were up 0.07% in July on a month-on-month basis, following a 0.42% fall in the previous month.
Panelist insight: On the data, TD Economics’ Thomas Feltmate said:
“Despite the rebound in monthly measures, underlying inflation trends continue to move in the right direction. At 3.4%, headline CPI has put further distance from its four-year high reached in May, while the annual change on core inflation fell back to its pre-Iran conflict rate of growth. Near-term trends on core also improved, with the three-and-six-month annualized rates slipping to 1.6% (from 2.3%) and 2.4% (from 2.6%), respectively.”