Dec. 18 (UPI) — Consumer inflation rose by less than expected in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly report on Thursday.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday a 2.7% annual increase in the consumer price index, or CPI, in November, short of the 3.1% projected by Wall Street.
Core CPI rose 2.6% year over year, below the 3% forecast.
“A tame CPI will reinforce the Fed is focused on protecting the employment market. And that means a Fed ‘put’ is now in place for the economy,” according to Tom Lee, head of research at Fundstrat.
The report is the first to cover the period affected by the U.S. government shutdown, which halted data collection and canceled its October CPI release originally planned for Dec. 10.
Thursday’s report lacked several standard data points, with October’s CPI canceled.
The BLS couldn’t recover the October data but used alternative sources.
Economists remain cautious about viewing the report as evidence of slowing inflation due to missing October comparison data.
Investors, meanwhile, analyzed the findings for hints on upcoming Federal Reserve policy shifts after the Fed’s third consecutive cut earlier this month.
Traders still saw slim odds of a January rate cut, but expectations grew for March.
“In other words, if the Fed is concerned about downside risks to the economy, the Fed ‘put’ comes into play and this would be for stocks to rise,” Lee said in a note.