China News Service, June 11, according to the "Central News Agency" report, US inflation continues to heat up. In May, the consumer price index increased by 5% annually, the largest increase in the past 13 years, and was higher than market expectations.
The report pointed out that the recent sharp rise in the inflation rate is related to the easing of the epidemic and economic recovery, and it is also related to whether the loose monetary policy changes.
On the 10th local time, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for May 2021 increased by 5% compared with the same period in 2020, which was higher than the 4.2% in April 2021 and the market expected 4.7%, a record of August 2008. The highest growth rate since June; if excluding the volatile food and energy, the so-called core CPI rose 3.8% over the same period in 2020, the largest increase since June 1992.
On June 10, local time, during the new crown pneumonia epidemic, California's tourism industry began to recover. A large number of tourists went to the beach to enjoy the sun. Coincidentally, a sea lion also chose to bask here.
According to the report, the annual growth rate of CPI has soared in the past two months, partly due to the severe new crown epidemic in the United States during the same period of 2020, the implementation of lockdown measures in many places, and the sharp drop in prices as the demand for goods and services has dropped.
Now that the economic environment has changed drastically, the low base period effect may continue to affect inflation data in the short term.
After the large-scale vaccination in the United States, epidemic prevention restrictions have been gradually loosened. People who have increased their savings during the epidemic have actively eaten out and traveled.
In response to rising prices of raw materials and rising wages, the catering industry has passed costs on to consumers; air tickets, car rentals, and hotel reservations have soared as the demand for travel has recovered.
Earlier in 2021, when inflation showed signs of heating up, investors worried that the Fed might raise interest rates ahead of schedule or reduce the scale of bond purchases in order to maintain price stability, resulting in increased volatility in the stock and bond markets.
U.S. officials have successively promised that economic support will not be reduced in the short term, and their worries have temporarily subsided.
However, the increase in prices in April and May exceeded expectations, which may make more people wonder whether this wave of price increases is a short-lived phenomenon described by Fed officials, and how long the unmoved will of officials in the face of rising inflation will last. .
The Fed’s inflation target is 2%, and the decision-making reference index is not the CPI announced by the Department of Labor, but the core personal consumption expenditure (Core PCE) price index with a slightly lower value.
This data has an annual growth rate of 3.1% in April, but officials have indicated that the tolerance value will exceed 2% for a period of time and the monetary policy will be maintained until full employment is achieved.