"Today's Consumer Price Index (CPI) release indicates that inflation in June was running at a 3.3 percent annual rate. Core CPI inflation, however, (inflation excluding food and energy prices) was much tamer, with a 1.9 percent increase over the previous year," says former Federal Reserve economist and Hamilton College professor Ann Owen.
"Fed policy makers pay more attention to the core CPI measure because it is a better indicator of the underlying trend for price increases in the economy. The mild increase in core prices makes it likely that the Fed can stick to its plan to remove the current level of monetary accommodation at a 'measured' pace," concludes Owen.
Hamilton College economics professor Ann Owen (PhD Brown University ), who served as an economist for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors before joining Hamilton College, is available for comment on today's CPI announcement as well as related issues. Owen is a frequent media commentator on economic trends, the Federal Reserve, and other economic indices. She focuses her research primarily on issues related to income distribution and human capital formation.
