Fears about a spike in US inflation were eased today as the latest data found prices were merely rising as expected.
Consumer prices climbed 0.3 per cent in June, with a sharp rise in gas prices pushing the annual rate of inflation to 2.1 per cent, the Labor Department said on Tuesday.
The core rate, which is of more significance to policymakers at the Federal Reserve, if not American consumers having to pay higher gas prices, fell shy of the 0.2 per cent increase forecast.
It rose 0.1 per cent from May, leaving the annual rate at 1.9 per cent.
With hopes that US growth will pick up in the second half of the year, the possibility of that fanning inflation is edging onto investors’ radars.
Janet Yellen, the Fed chairwoman, has so far played down the threat of rising prices given the lack of wage growth in the economy.
