USA Inflation Climbs Again Quashing Interest Rate Cut Hope

The US Labor department has released its latest CPI inflation figures for March 2024.

CPI inflation has increased from 3.2% pa in February to 3.5% pa in March.  Price increases were driven by fuel costs and housing costs.  This is all being driven by the fact that US economy is still doing well, with more jobs, lower unemployment, more money to spend in the economy pushing prices up despite higher interest rates trying to curb this.

Comment

We could be in for a rocky ride. Tensions are increasing between Iran and Israel after the attack on Iran’s embassy in Damascus with concerns for reprisals.  This is pushing oil prices up.  We already know the knock on effect of increased energy prices (after Russia’s invasion).  This spiked costs and inflation to levels not seen since the 1980s.

Currently, we stand by our position that interest rates will not fall until the Autumn at the earliest.  Interest rates may even go up and could hit 8% in the US according to the head of one of the US’s largest bank JP Morgan Chase.