
Anyone looking for reasons U.S. inflation rose slightly last month might look at the prices of used cars, hotel rooms and groceries.,
According to figures released by the Labor Department, consumer prices rose 2.7% in November from a year earlier, up from 2.6% in October. Excluding volatile food and energy costs, so-called core prices increased 3.3%, the same as in the previous month, according to a report from The Associated Press, which also reported prices rose .03%, measured month to month from October to November. It’s the biggest such increase since April.
Wednesday’s inflation figures comprise the final piece of information Federal Reserve officials will consider before their meeting on interest rates, set for Dec. 18. The relatively small November increase likely won’t be enough to discourage the officials from cutting their key rate by a quarter-point. The probability of a rate cut next week, as envisioned by Wall Street traders, rose to 98% after Wednesday’s inflation report was released, according to futures pricing tracked by CME FedWatch.
“It’s generally in the ballpark of what the Fed would like to see,” Jason Pride, chief investment strategist at Glenmede, a wealth management firm, told the AP.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell has suggested that with the economy generally healthy, the Fed could reduce its key rate slowly.
The Fed cut its benchmark rate by a point in September, then followed that with a quarter-point rate cut in November. Those cuts lowered the central bank’s key rate to 4.6%, down from a four-decade high of 5.3%.