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