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☆ Insurance Costs Are Pushing Up Overall Inflation
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Jeanna Smialek | More About Jeanna Smialek | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It is costing Americans more to protect against disaster, a development that is pushing up official inflation figures. Various kinds of insurance — including car, medical and property protection — are costing more, at least as official inflation figures measure them. “Insurance of various different kinds — housing insurance, but also automobile insurance, and things like that — that’s been a significant source of inflation over the last few years,” Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, said during congressional testimony last week. “And it’s to do with a million different factors.”Vehicle insurance is the one adding notably to overall inflation, said Omair Sharif, founder of the research firm Inflation Insights. Part of the increase in car insurance comes from the fact that parts and replacement vehicles have become a lot more expensive over recent years, and that is slowly feeding through to insurance premiums, he said.

Persons: ” Jerome H, Powell, Omair Sharif Organizations: “ Insurance, Federal Reserve

☆ February Inflation Report Consumer Price Rises Likely Held Steady
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Jeanna Smialek | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

PinnedThe Consumer Price Index inflation report set for release on Tuesday morning could be a big news event for the Federal Reserve and many in markets. Overall inflation is expected to hold steady at 3.1 percent on an annual basis. In particular, economists are likely to keep an eye on housing costs and other services’ prices in the measure. Fed officials have been debating how long they need to leave rates at their current level, about 5.3 percent. And Fed officials want to avoid lowering interest rates too early, only to find out that inflation is not fully quashed.

Persons: ” Jerome H, Powell, we’re, ”, Omair Sharif Organizations: Federal Reserve, Fed

Bond yields fell, and traders of contracts tied to the Fed's policy rate now see only a 12% chance of a rate hike by January, down from 30% before the release of the employment report. Rate futures pricing now reflects a better-than-even chance of a Fed rate cut by May of 2024, with several more cuts expected later next year. U.S. central bankers themselves are not even thinking about rate cuts, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said this week after the Fed kept its benchmark overnight interest rate steady in the 5.25%-5.50% range. "Continued upward momentum would be troubling, and hopefully this recent rise levels off as the labor market recovery continues," said Indeed.com's Nick Bunker. Still for now, most of the worries about the labor market appear to be focused on what might, or might not, happen next rather than on the evidence so far.

Persons: Jerome Powell, Kevin Lamarque, nonfarm, Bond, Powell, Thomas Barkin, Barkin, Michael Feroli, Nick Bunker, Sharif, Julie Su, Ann Saphir, Shristi Achar, Tomasz Janowski, Christina Fincher, Paul Simao, Chris Reese Organizations: Federal, Committee, Federal Reserve, REUTERS, Labor Department, U.S, Fed, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Richmond Fed, CNBC, JPMorgan, Reuters Graphics, Labor, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S

The Fed expects to get inflation back to its 2% target in 2026, which is later than some officials had thought possible. Financial markets had widely expected that the Fed would leave rates unchanged. Ahead of the Fed meeting, investors had been banking on significant Fed rate cuts next year, an expectation clouded by the projections that show 10 of 19 officials see the policy rate remaining above 5% through next year. Federal funds futures showed traders had downgraded their estimates of Fed rate cuts ahead. The Fed statement was approved unanimously after a two-day meeting that marked new Fed Governor Adriana Kugler's debut on the central bank policymaking stage.

Persons: Jerome Powell, We're, Bond, Stocks, Chris Wattie, I've, Powell, Olu Sonola, Omair Sharif, Adriana Kugler's, Howard Schneider, Michael S, Chizu Nomiyama, Paul Simao Organizations: U.S . Federal Reserve, Market, Reuters Graphics, Reserve, REUTERS, Fed, Reuters, Fitch, Thomson Locations: WASHINGTON, Washington , DC

"We will proceed carefully as we decide whether to tighten further or, instead, to hold the policy rate constant and await further data," Powell said in a keynote address to the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium. "It is the Fed’s job to bring inflation down to our 2% goal, and we will do so. The Fed has raised rates by 5.25 percentage points since March 2022, and inflation by the Fed's preferred gauge has moved down to 3.3% from its peak of 7% last summer. Although the decline was a "welcome development," Powell said, inflation "remains too high." Fed policymakers will also meet in November and December.

Persons: JACKSON, Jerome Powell, Powell, Jackson, Elizabeth Frantz, “ Powell, Michael Arone, Loretta Mester, Austan Goolsbee, Howard Schneider, Ann Saphir, Michael S, Lewis Krauskopf, Andrea Ricci Organizations: Federal, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Federal Reserve, Committee, REUTERS, Fed, State Street Global Advisors, Cleveland Fed, Chicago Fed, Derby, Thomson Locations: , Wyoming, U.S, Washington , U.S

"We now forecast a mild recession in the U.S. economy this year ... In May and June, the Fed staff projections "continued to assume" the U.S. economy would be in recession by the end of the year. Fed policymakers' projections, which are issued on a quarterly basis, never showed GDP contracting on an annual basis. 'CHUGGING ALONG'What made the difference between an in-the-moment recession that many thought was underway last year to growth that has surprised to the upside? An Atlanta Fed GDP "nowcast" puts output growth for the current July-September period at 5.0%, showing continued strong momentum.

Persons: Biden, Michael Gapen, Gapen, Jerome Powell, Powell, Sharif, We've, Sal Guatieri, Howard Schneider, Paul Simao Organizations: Federal, Bank of America, Fed, Reuters, Valley Bank, Atlanta Fed, BMO Capital Markets, Thomson Locations: U.S, California

☆ The Fed’s Preferred Inflation Measure Cooled in June
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Jeanna Smialek | More About Jeanna Smialek | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Fed policymakers have been closely watching core inflation in particular, because it strips out volatile data to give a better sense of where inflation might be headed. Officials aim for 2 percent inflation on average, so that key price measure is still about twice as fast as their goal. Still, the recent progress has been a welcome development, especially because the economy has held up even as price increases begin to slow. “It’s a good number,” Omair Sharif, founder of Inflation Insights, said of the price report. The Fed’s staff even revised its forecast at the central bank’s meeting this week, and is no longer calling for a downturn this year.

Persons: “, ” Omair Sharif Organizations: Fed, stoke

That could help lower overall inflation when the next CPI report is released on Aug. 10, with the details in Wednesday's report suggesting "downside risks" to any forecast of July's inflation rate. Indeed, at least one Fed official on Wednesday stuck to policymakers' prevailing hawkish mantra that inflation is still too high. While not specifically addressing the CPI report, Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin told a Maryland business group that he still felt inflation had "been stubbornly persistent." 'FINAL INNINGS'But the latest CPI data could undercut arguments for yet another rate increase beyond the July meeting. Fed officials, blindsided by the persistence of inflation they initially thought would dissipate on its own, have been reluctant to bank on good news continuing.

Persons: Omair Sharif, Rick Rieder, Lael Brainard, Brainard, Thomas Barkin, Goldman Sachs, they've, Raphael Bostic, Bostic, Howard Schneider, Michael S, Ann Saphir, Dan Burns, Paul Simao Organizations: Federal Reserve, U.S . Labor Department, Reuters Graphics Reuters, BlackRock, Fed, White, Economic Council, Economic, of New, Richmond Fed, U.S, Cleveland Fed's Center, Inflation Research, Atlanta Fed, Derby, Thomson Locations: U.S, of New York, Maryland

"The economy is still adding more jobs than new entrants to the labor market," wrote Vanguard Global Chief Economist Joseph Davis and Senior International Economist Andrew Patterson. Wage growth "remains well above levels the Fed would be comfortable with" in the fight to return inflation to the 2% target. With job growth in prior months revised down by more than 100,000 jobs, the June jobs report is "a fairly soft print" with three-month average job gains now at 244,000 compared to more than 400,000 a year ago, said Omair Sharif of Inflation Insights. But progress towards a more balanced labor market is coming "slowly, slowly...These are still healthy figures" even as the pace softens. Reporting by Howard Schneider; Editing by Dan Burns, Nick Zieminski, Andrea Ricci and Chizu NomiyamaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Joseph Davis, Andrew Patterson, Omair Sharif, Austan Goolsbee, Let's, Goolsbee, Jerome Powell, Powell, Howard Schneider, Dan Burns, Nick Zieminski, Andrea Ricci, Chizu Organizations: Federal Reserve, Vanguard Global, Senior, Fed, Chicago Fed, CNBC, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Labor Statistics, Thomson Locations: U.S

☆ The Slowdown in Inflation May Have Ended in April
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Jeanna Smialek | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

That plateau could come amid strong price increases for food, gas, used cars and car insurance. Although inflation has been gradually cooling, it remains too elevated for policymakers to be comfortable. Federal Reserve officials are likely to watch the April inflation report closely. There could be one silver lining from April’s numbers: Some economists expect a meaningful slowdown in services prices after stripping out food, energy and housing costs. Policymakers have been watching that trimmed-down measure for a signal of where price increases might go next.

The U.S. unemployment rate ticked up to 3.6% in February as more workers entered the labor force, and wage gains slowed to 0.2% from 0.3% in January, the Labor Department's report showed. "This report screams soft landing and looks to be a pretty good one for the Fed," said Omair Sharif of Inflation Insights. After the report, futures tied to the Fed policy rate pointed to a quarter-point rate hike as the most likely outcome of the central bank's meeting this month. Traders also slashed expectations for the Fed to ultimately raise rates any higher than 5.5%. "However, the February CPI report will also weigh heavily in the Fed’s deliberations of whether to raise rates 25bps or 50bps.

Reuters GraphicsThe U.S. Labor Department is due to release its Consumer Price Index report for January at 8:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT). For the purpose of calculating inflation, "housing" is considered a service. Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsEven outside of housing, the general pace of services inflation has been falling somewhat. Carpenter said he felt that one of Powell's top stated concerns, of low unemployment driving wages higher for workers in the services sector and keeping inflation elevated, may be overstated. "The link from wages to inflation is there, but small, and both services wage and price inflation are trending down," he said, noting a recent White House study indicating wage growth across key services businesses was declining.

The stronger-than-expected hiring pushed the unemployment rate to 3.4%, the lowest since the spring of 1969. “It will give the Fed absolutely no reassurance that labor market imbalances – which have been adding to wage pressures - are easing," said Brian Coulton, chief economist at Fitch Ratings. "It will reinforce the message that the Fed still has quite a lot of work to do to tame core inflation." U.S. Labor Secretary Martin Walsh said he thought Friday's report showed signs of an economy and labor market steadily returning to normal. Powell pointed out that the years just before the COVID-19 health crisis included simultaneously low unemployment, low inflation, and sustainably modest wage growth, proof that a best-case set of conditions was achievable.

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