Washington/New York — In a bad year for the US Federal Reserve’s inflation goal, Friday’s consumer price index release will mark something of a milestone. The labour department reports consumer price inflation for June at 8.30am in Washington on Friday, and the figures could either round out four months of sub-par progress or suggest that the slowdown is — as the Fed has been saying — transitory. If the number comes in on the low side, it will mark more than a quarter of weak progress at a time when some Fed officials are predicating their support for another rate increase on a pick-up in price pressures. Though the Fed prefers a separate commerce department price index, which will be released on August 1, Friday’s data will give policy makers a window into how momentum is shaping up ahead of their July 25 to 26 policy meeting. A shortfall of inflation from the Fed’s 2% target has been a hallmark of this expansion. In her written testimony to congress, US Federal Reserve chairperson...
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