Inflation Crosses 9% – Trustnodes

Inflation rose last month to 9.1% according to the just released data by the Bureau for Labour Statistics.

“The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 1.3 percent in June on a seasonally adjusted basis after rising 1.0 percent in May,” it said.

Energy accounted for half of all inflation, with oil almost crossing the all time high of $130 last month, while gas rose to as much as $9.50.

Both are down now. US oil is at $95, while gas has been sidewaying above $6, which has developed into a significant resistance line.

The energy index rose 41.6 percent over the last year, they say, while oil jumped 98%, the biggest increase since 1980.

But they’re both coming down, with inflation this month likely to be far lower presuming oil and gas continue to fall in price.

Not before FED meets however later this month. They may increase interest rates further by as much as 0.75%, with the dollar strength index rising above 108 for the first time since the booming early 2000s.

The dollar has also reached euro parity, that too for the first time since 2002, with the picture currently sufficiently confusing to the point Paul Krugman has called it The Humbug Economy.

Whether that’s just to politically soften what may be officially a recession once the GDP data comes out for the second quarter later this month, is not too clear.

But what is somewhat clear is that inflation does not seem to care much about what FED is doing, with their huge hikes still giving a higher CPI than in Europe, even though the latter has not quite began hiking yet.

The GDP seems to care, while inflation appears to be listening to only oil and gas, both very much a political matter as supply only now is starting to reach pre-2019 levels.

Where bitcoin is concerned, the crypto seems to have stopped caring too, waving at $20,000s. Presumably because as much as three rate hikes of 0.75% have now been priced in.