CUNA research: Inflation sets another record

CUNA Senior Economist Dawit Kebede issued the following statement in response to the Labor Department’s June Consumer Index Report:

“Prices jumped to another record high in June, coming in at 9.1% year-over-year, which was higher than the consensus expectation. This is driven by a broad category of items, but energy prices have contributed half of the increase since May.

“There are signs that some of the main drivers of inflation are easing, such as lower oil and other commodity prices in July, slower wage growth, and declining supply chain pressures. However, service price increases led by housing and pent-up demand for vehicles will keep inflation elevated in the coming months.

“There is a higher chance that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates by 75 basis points if not more by the end of the month given a strong jobs report, broad-based price increases, and elevated inflation expectation.”