National economy Inflation weakens slightly to 2.9 percent in the USA

In the USA, inflation weakened slightly in July. Consumer prices rose by 2.9% compared to the same month last year, as announced by the US Department of Labor in Washington on Wednesday.

The inflation rate is the lowest since March 2021. In the previous month, the rate had been 3.0%. Economists had on average expected the rate to remain unchanged.

The core inflation rate excluding energy and food fell from 3.3 percent in the previous month to 3.2 percent in July. This had also been expected by economists. Compared to the previous month, core consumer prices rose by 0.2% as expected. The US Federal Reserve (Fed) pays particular attention to the core rate. According to experts, it reflects the general price trend better than the overall rate.

The Fed is heading towards an easing of its monetary policy. The financial markets consider an interest rate cut in September to be a foregone conclusion. A larger interest rate cut of 0.50 percentage points is no longer ruled out either.

The Fed is aiming for inflation of two percent. In addition to declining inflation, weaker labor market and economic data also argue for a cut. Although the US Federal Reserve has signaled a rate cut, it has made this dependent on data developments. Concerns about the US economy had at times led to turbulence on the financial markets.

SDA