WASHINGTON (REUTERS) – US consumer prices have risen less than expected in February, but the improvement is probably temporary compared to the background of aggressive rates for imports that are expected to increase the costs of most goods in the coming months.
The consumer price index rose by 0.2% last month after accelerating 0.5% in January, said the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the labor department on Wednesday.
In the 12 months to February, the CPI rose by 2.8% after climbing 3.0% in January. Economists interviewed by Reuters had predicted that the CPI won 0.3% and 2.9% had risen on an annual basis.
The first full inflation report from the government of President Donald Trump still left the prizes at levels that economists say they are not consistent with the target of the Federal Reserve. Trump activated a trade war at the beginning of this month, raised the rates of goods from China to 20% and imposed a new 25% obligation for the Canadian and Mexican import, before they return and a one-month exemption for all goods that comply with the rules under the US-Mexico-Canada agreement on trade.
Improved samples and aluminum rates came into effect this week and quickly retreated from Europe.
Consumers, afraid of higher prices, probably hurried to buy goods such as motor vehicles and other Big-ticket articles that can appear in February and if not, than in the coming months.
The inflation expectations of consumers shot up in February.
“The longer that inflation runs over the target of the Fed, even if it is due to temporary troops such as rates, the greater the chance that expectations will arise,” said Stephen Juneau, an American economist at Bank of America Securities. “If that happened, restoring the stability of the price would be so much more difficult for the Fed.”
Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the CPI climbed 0.2% in February after winning 0.4% in January. In the
12 months to February, the so -called Core CPI rose by 3.1% after increasing 3.3% in January.
After the cascade of rates, economists upheld their inflation forecasts.
Goldman Sachs estimates that the nuclear spending for personal consumption price index, one of the FED for the monetary policy, one of the measures followed by the FED, will collect from 2.65% in January to around 3%. It had predicted the annual core inflation that remained in the central 2% area for the rest of the year.
The US central bank is expected to keep his benchmark at night interest rate unchanged in the reach of 4.25% -4.50% next Wednesday. Financial markets expect that the FED will resume the reduction percentage in June due to the deteriorating economic outlook, after pausing in January.
