Washington, Dec 12 (EFE). – The inflation rate in the United States has continued to slow down and stood at 3.1% year-on-year in November, according to data published on Tuesday by the Office of Labor Statistics (BLS).
On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose just 0.1% from October, mainly due to a drop in energy prices.
US President Joe Biden noted in a statement that the rate released this Tuesday «reflects continued progress in bringing down inflation and lowering costs for American families.»
Consumer prices have fallen, he noted, «inflation has come down while unemployment has remained below 4 percent for the longest period in 50 years, which means that workers’ wages and household wealth are now higher than they were before the recession, adjusted for inflation,» Biden added.
The inflation data is significant as the Federal Reserve begins the two-day meeting of its Open Market Committee on Tuesday, after which it must decide on interest rates.
With this consumer price trend, the Fed is not expected to raise interest rates, although the possibility of starting to lower them does not seem likely either.
In a public event held a few days ago at Spelman Atlanta College, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell stated that «it would be premature to conclude with confidence that we have achieved a sufficiently restrictive stance or to speculate about when policy might ease.»
According to statistics released on Tuesday, energy prices fell 2.3% in November from the previous month, driven by a 6% drop in gasoline, while other components rose. Food prices rose two tenths.
Consumer prices excluding energy and food rose by three tenths in November on a monthly basis.
In year-on-year terms, core inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, stood at 4%.
In the last twelve months, energy prices have fallen 5.4% and food prices have grown 2.9%.EFE
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