INFLATION continued to heat up in June, hitting a fresh pandemic peak that keeps the Federal Reserve geared for another big interest-rate hike later this month, economists project.
High gas prices, which were increasing well before Russia invaded Ukraine, help explain both President Joe Biden’s dismal approval ratings and his upcoming trip to the Middle East, where he hopes to convince Arab leaders to produce more oil. “If I’m right about June being the start of a string of lower core CPI prints, which is what the Fed wants to see, then I think comments from officials will quickly switch to a 50 basis-point hike for September and there were more calls for slowing to 25 basis points late in the year,” Omair Sharif, founder of Inflation Insights LLC., said.