US consumer inflation eases sharply to 3% in June

ISTANBUL

Annual consumer inflation in the US came in at 3% in June, marking the lowest level in more than two years, easing sharply from 4% in May, according to official figures released on Wednesday.

The consumer price index (CPI), which measures changes in the prices of goods and services from a consumer's perspective, also came below the market estimate of 3.1%.

The figure was the smallest 12-month increase since the period ending March 2021, and marked a sharp decline from last June's 9.1% yearly gain – the largest since November 1981.

On a monthly basis, CPI rose 0.2% in June from the previous month, also coming in lower than the market expectation of 0.3%. The gain in May was unrevised at 0.1%.

"The food index increased 0.1 percent in June after increasing 0.2 percent the previous month," said a Labor Department statement. "The energy index rose 0.6 percent in June as the major energy component indexes were mixed."

Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, gained 0.2% in June from the previous month, also coming in lower than market estimates of 0.3%, while the May reading was unrevised at 0.4%.

Annually, core CPI rose 4.8% in June, also lower than the market expectation of 5%, after it rose 5.3% in May year-on-year.

"The energy index decreased 16.7 percent for the 12 months ending June, and the food index increased 5.7 percent over the last year," said the statement.

President Joe Biden later said annual inflation has fallen in each of the last twelve months, adding "Today’s report brings new and encouraging evidence that inflation is falling while our economy remains strong."

"We’ve made this progress while unemployment remains near record lows and a higher share of working age Americans are in jobs now than in 20 years," he said in a statement released by the White House.

"Real wages for the average American worker are now higher than they were before the pandemic, with lower wage workers seeing the largest gains," he noted.