Read the highlights of this week’s commentary from Helios:
- In July, the consumer price index (CPI) rose 3.2% year-over-year (vs. 3.0% prior) and core CPI, which excludes food and energy, dipped slightly to 4.7% (vs. 4.8% prior). On a monthly basis, both headline and core CPI rose 0.2%, marking the smallest back-to back gains in core CPI in over two years. Under the hood, housing costs continue to contribute significantly to the overall CPI increases while used-car prices and airfares decreased.
- The CPI report increases the likelihood of the Federal Reserve keeping rates unchanged at the next meeting in September, although inflation remains above their 2% target. As of Friday afternoon, Fed Futures were indicating an 88.5% chance of no interest rate rise in September.
- Initial jobless claims for the week ending August 5 increased by 21K to 248K, partially due to the bankruptcy of Yellow Corp., which affected about 30K workers. Continuing claims dropped by 8K to 1,684K for the week ending July 29.
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