The Fed has few options as inflation runs hot
That's the sound I made this morning as I rolled into work and glanced down at the news alerts on my phone all screaming the same depressing figure: 9.1%.
Consumer prices rose 9.1% in June — that's much higher than the 8.8% economists had forecast, and it means our year-plus tussle with inflation is far from over.
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Here the deal: The headline figure is distressing for about everyone consumers are having to stretch their dollars further to manage day to day expenses, and businesses' profits are taking a hit.
Wall Street also let out a guttural cry on the news this morning. Stocks fell as investors grappled with the now certain prospect of the Federal Reserve taking aggressive step to tame price increases.
"If the Fed was hoping to find signs that inflation is beginning to abate, they likely didn't find it in today's CPI report," said Jason Pride, chief investment officer of private wealth at Glenmede.
In previous reports, the headline figure was frequently pushed higher by a few outliers, like car prices or health care or rent. This time, it's pretty much bad.