US Consumer Prices Increase Slightly in November
Investing.com — US consumer prices rose slightly on an annualized basis in November, reinforcing expectations for another interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve next week.
The Labor Department's Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 2.7% last month, matching expectations and up slightly from 2.6% in October.
On a month-on-month basis, the CPI climbed to 0.3%, also as anticipated, surpassing the 0.2% from the previous month.
Excluding more volatile items such as food and fuel, the core CPI rose by 3.3% year-over-year, aligning with expectations, while on a monthly basis, underlying price growth remained at 0.3%, unchanged from October.
Since September, the Federal Reserve has reduced interest rates by 75 basis points, and markets are widely anticipating another 25-basis point cut at the upcoming December 17-18 meeting.
According to their latest quarterly projections released in September, members of the Federal Open Market Committee anticipated the central bank's benchmark rate would end in 2025 at 3.4%, representing a total of 125 basis points in cuts from current levels.
Analysts at Wells Fargo noted, “While some key sources of inflationary pressure, such as an overheated labor market, continue to dissipate, new headwinds to disinflation have emerged (e.g., the potential for tariffs and tax cuts) that make the final leg of inflation's journey back to the Fed's 2% target look increasingly difficult.”
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