Key Fed inflation gauge shows no relief for squeezed families

Published

9 months ago

September 1, 2023

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An inflation measure closely watched by the Federal Reserve ticked higher in July as steep prices continue to squeeze millions of US households.

The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index showed that consumer prices rose 0.2% from the previous month, according to the Commerce Department.

On an annual basis, prices climbed 3.3% — up from 3% the previous month, underscoring the challenge oftaming high inflation.

The figures were both in line with estimates from Refintiv economists.

Core prices, which strip out the more volatile measurements of food and energy, climbed 0.2% from the previous month and 4.2% from the previous year.

While the Fed is targeting the PCE headline figure as it tries to wrestle consumer prices back to 2%,Chair Jerome Powellpreviously told reporters that core data is actually a better indicator of inflation.

Both the core and headline numbers point to inflation that is still running above the Fed’s preferred 2% target.

“The PCE index has been moving in the right direction overall, but core inflation remains stickier than expected keeping the data dependent and agile Fed more likely to raise rates again this year,” said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist for LPL Financial.

Other figures included in the report showed that consumer spending jumped 0.8% in July, compared with a 0.6% increase in June.

Still, many economists anticipate that spending will slow in coming months as spenders continue to grapple with expensive goods, high interest rates and the resumption of federal student loan payments.

“Consumers spent freely in July even if it meant dipping into their savings amid slower income growth,” said Gregory Daco, EY chief economist. “We anticipate the trend will slow in August and September as elevated prices for goods and services, higher borrowing costs and moderating income limit consumers spending appetite.”

Stocks climbed Thursday morning as the report fueled investor hopes for a rate pause.

The Fed in July approved another interest rate hike, lifting the benchmark rate to the highest level since 2001.

Powell signaled last week that additional rate hikes may be on the table this year as policymakers assess whether high inflation has retreated for good.

“Although inflation has moved down from its peak a welcome development it remains too high,” he said. “We are prepared to raise rates further if appropriate, and intend to hold policy at a restrictive level until we are confident that inflation is moving sustainably down toward our objective.”

Entertainment

Cannes Film Festival 2024: The Apprentice to the new Mad Max – five films to look out for as stars hit the red carpet

Published

38 mins ago

May 14, 2024

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Cannes Film Festival 2024: The Apprentice to the new Mad Max - five films to look out for as stars hit the red carpet

This year’s Cannes Film Festival is getting under way with, as always, a French movie opening proceedings and celebrities lining the red carpet.

Lea Seydoux is among the stars in The Second Act, which tells the story of actors working on a doomed movie production – a delightfully wicked way to kick off the world’s most famous film festival.

Away from opening night, here are five more films playing at Cannes that are worth keeping an eye on.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

A post-apocalyptic action adventure, this is a prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road – which won six Oscars and is largely regarded as one of the best action films ever. Furiosa is by the same director, George Miller, and early reviews suggest it’s somewhat different to its predecessor but equally brilliant. With stars including Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hardy, it should be a great way to kick off summer blockbuster season – in cinemas from 24 May, so audiences who aren’t on the French Riviera don’t have long to wait too long.

Megalopolis

Legendary director Francis Ford Coppola‘s self-financed passion project is playing in competition at the festival. The filmmaker is reported to have spent several decades and more than a million dollars of his own money making the sci-fi, which is described as a Roman epic fable set in an imagined modern America. The ensemble cast includes Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne and Dustin Hoffman – and as Coppola’s first film to be released since 2011, expectations are high for this one.

The Apprentice

As Donald Trump continues to grab headlines in the US, this film looks at the former president’s life before politics, his career in real estate in New York in the 1970s and 1980s. Sebastian Stan stars as Trump, but little else is known about the drama ahead of its world premiere at Cannes. Promoters say it tackles themes of power, corruption and deception – so now it’s a watch and wait to see if the billionaire has anything to say about his life becoming fodder for the big screen.

Horizon: An American Saga

Another passion project making its way to the south of France is the first half of this two-parter Western co-written, starring and directed by Kevin Costner. The actor first pitched a version of this movie back in 1988 so it’s been brewing since long before the Western drama series Yellowstone that he’s been busy with during recent years. Audiences will be going in knowing they won’t get the whole story, and with a 181 minute running time it’s quite the commitment – but perhaps not as big as Costner’s himself; he’s personally financed the films, which currently have a budget of almost $100m.

Kinds Of Kindness

Mere months after Yorgos Lanthimos’s Poor Things won four Oscars, the director has got the gang back together for a new film premiering at Cannes, also starring Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe and Margaret Qualley. Described as a “triptych fable”, the film tells three stories that are loosely connected. Known for his strange tales and specific vison, while Lanthimos’s movies aren’t for everyone they certainly can’t be accused of being dull. However, with little to be gleaned from the teaser trailer that’s been released so far, it will be all eyes on Cannes to see what audiences make of this one.

Sports

Phillies’ Harper (migraine) out Tuesday vs. Mets

Published

38 mins ago

May 14, 2024

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Phillies' Harper (migraine) out Tuesday vs. Mets

Field Level Media

May 14, 2024, 01:41 PM ET

Philadelphia Phillies star first baseman Bryce Harper was a late scratch ahead of Tuesday afternoon’s game against the host New York Mets due to a migraine.

Bryson Stott was moved up to third in the lineup, and Alec Bohm was listed as fourth and scheduled to play at first base in place of Harper, 31.

Whit Merrifield was inserted into the lineup and slated to take over at third base for Bohm.

Harper, a two-time National League MVP, is hitting .259 with nine homers and 29 RBIs in 38 games this season.

World

France prison convoy attack: Inmate on the run after guards killed in ambush

Published

38 mins ago

May 14, 2024

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France prison convoy attack: Inmate on the run after guards killed in ambush

Hundreds of police are hunting armed men who attacked a prison van in France – with a convict reportedly nicknamed “The Fly” escaping.

Two male prison officers were shot dead and three others seriously injured during the ambush on a motorway in Incarville, northwest France, at around 9am.

Eric Dupond-Moretti, France’s justice minister, said one of the officers leaves behind a wife who was five months pregnant, while the other was a 21-year-old father-of-two.

He said two of those injured are in a critical condition after Tuesday’s ambush.

The officers were transporting convict Mohamed Amra, 30, when they came under heavy fire, said the Paris prosecutor’s office.

Footage shows a black car driving into the front of a white van, and later two armed men patrolling near a tollbooth on the A154 motorway.

Several men used two vehicles to target the van – with one later found burnt-out, a police source told French news agency AFP.

Amra had been serving an 18-month sentence for “aggravated thefts” in the suburbs of Evreux, northwest France, according to BFM TV.

The French broadcaster said his nickname is “The Fly”.

Police sources also said Amra was involved in drug dealing, suspected of ordering a murder in Marseille, and had ties to the city’s powerful “Blacks” gang.

He had reportedly appeared before a judge in Rouen on Tuesday morning, accused of attempted homicide.

The attack on the van took place while he was being transported back to prison in Evreux, according to reports in France.

Who is ‘The Fly’?

A prison source told Le Parisien that the escaped inmate had tried to saw the bars off his cell two days ago.

He had reportedly been placed in solitary confinement and his surveillance level raised after the escape attempt.

Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said Amra was a “particularly monitored detainee” while in prison.

Gerald Darmanin, France’s interior minister, said “several hundred police officers” had been deployed to “find these criminals”.

French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X: “This morning’s attack, which cost the lives of prison officers, is a shock to us all.

“The Nation stands alongside the families, the injured and their colleagues.

“Everything is being done to find the perpetrators of this crime so that justice can be done in the name of the French people. We will be intractable.”

“Everything, I mean everything, will be done to find the perpetrators of this despicable crime,” added justice minister Eric Dupond-Moretti.

“These are people for whom life weighs nothing. They will be arrested, they will be judged, and they will be punished according to the crime they committed.”