Updated
Updated · The Associated Press · Aug 22
Wall Street Awaits 2 Key U.S. Reports as Inflation Stays Above 3%
Updated
Updated · The Associated Press · Aug 22

Wall Street Awaits 2 Key U.S. Reports as Inflation Stays Above 3%

3 articles · Updated · The Associated Press · Aug 22

Summary

  • Tuesday’s Conference Board release is expected to show U.S. consumer confidence fell again in August after slipping in July, extending a year of weak sentiment.
  • Wednesday’s July PCE report — the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge — is likely to reinforce that inflation remains stuck above 3%, well above the central bank’s 2% target.
  • Oil disruptions from the U.S.-Iran war and earlier global tariffs have driven the pressure, lifting gasoline, shipping and everyday goods costs and squeezing household budgets.
  • September’s Fed meeting is now expected to end with rates unchanged as policymakers wait for clearer evidence that price growth is easing.

Insights

With global conflicts choking off oil and supply chains, can the Fed actually control inflation without crushing the everyday consumer?
Will upcoming inflation reports reveal that skyrocketing gas and grocery bills are pushing the U.S. economy closer to a hidden recession?
As shipping bottlenecks near pandemic-era peaks, are we facing a permanent era of high prices regardless of interest rate hopes?