According to the latest figures from the Labor Department, inflation persisted in the US over July but the pace of price rises slowed to 8.5 per cent, compared to the 9.1 per cent recorded in the year to June.
The rate of price hikes was mainly offset by a drop in prices for petrol at the pump.
Meanwhile, energy bills have continued to rise, along with the costs of food, housing and medical treatment.
Grocery prices have increased by 13.1 per cent in the year to July 2022, the largest annual increase recorded stateside since the late 1970s.
Jobs growth performed well once again, but inflation has hit the US economy, after it recorded a second successive quarter of contraction over April to June.
As the Bank of England has done in the UK, the US Central Bank has been hiking interest rates in a bid to cool rising prices, but concern remains that the US economy could be subject to a lengthy recession in the wake of such measures.
While the slower pace of inflation is not yet significant enough to be considered a major breakthrough in addressing the cost-of-living crisis across the Atlantic, Capital Economics’ chief US economist Paul Ashworth took a positive angle on the matter and suggested that experts expected “to see broader signs of easing price pressures over the next few months”.
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