Topic
Inflation
Everything Briefed has filed against Inflation, most recent first.
55 stories
Inflation measures how quickly prices are rising across an economy. The UK targets 2% CPI; the US targets 2% PCE. Persistent inflation above target typically triggers rate rises, while inflation falling below target may prompt cuts.
Coverage40 shown
US inflation cools to 3.4%, core CPI up just 0.2%Core CPI rose 0.2% in July, the softest monthly print in months, pulling annual inflation down to 3.4%. That is still nearly double the Fed's target, but the direction of travel is what markets wan…Japan's producer prices stay hot as BOJ weighs its next moveWholesale inflation in Japan is holding stubbornly high, complicating the Bank of Japan's case for a slow, gradual path on rates. Producer prices feed through to consumer inflation with a lag, so p…US beef prices hit recordsCattle herd sizes are at their lowest since the 1950s after years of drought-driven culling, and rebuilding a herd takes years, not quarters. Restaurant chains reliant on burgers and steaks are alr…Goodyear swings to a lossLower tyre volumes met higher input costs, a combination that has hit the whole auto supply chain as consumers delay replacement purchases. Goodyear's stock has underperformed Michelin and Bridgest…Heatwave crop damage is about to show up on supermarket shelvesEuropean heatwaves this summer have hit yields for wheat, vegetables and dairy across France, Spain and southern England, and that damage takes weeks to filter through to UK shelf prices rather tha…Whirlpool's retreat from global scale is now costing it at homeWhirlpool spent the last decade shedding international operations to focus on North America, and that bet is now backfiring as it faces tariff-exposed input costs with none of the scale or geograph…US growth slowed and nobody's sure if that's good newsA weaker-than-expected second quarter GDP print lands at an awkward moment: soft enough to strengthen the case for Federal Reserve rate cuts, but not so soft that it looks like the hard landing bea…Diesel prices are the real Middle East risk gauge nowDiesel markets reacting harder than crude to the latest Middle East escalation reflects a structural squeeze that's been building for months: European refining capacity has shrunk since the energy …The Fed's split just became public, and Treasury yields noticedTwo Fed officials dissenting on a hold is unusual enough. What's rattling Treasury desks is the silence that followed. Apollo's chief economist Torsten Slok is calling it a 'yo-yo' bond market, wit…Bank of England holds at 3.75%, and that's the boring partNobody serious expected a cut today, so the hold itself is not the story. What matters is the vote split and the language in the minutes, because that's what moves the November meeting from a coin …Investors are losing patience with the Bank of JapanJapan's inflation has run hot enough for long enough that the BoJ's gradualist approach is starting to look like indecision rather than caution. Investors are now openly questioning whether Governo…UK inflation hits a 15-month low, but the £2 bus cap is the only relief that's actually locked inUK inflation eased in June to its lowest reading in 15 months as food and fuel prices fell, and the government used the moment to confirm the £2 bus fare cap in England returns from January. Econom…Thai bonds are quietly outperforming all of AsiaThailand's government bonds have delivered the region's best returns this year as the Bank of Thailand cut rates to support a tourism-dependent economy still below pre-pandemic visitor numbers, and…Ryanair's profit warning is what happens when hedging runs outRyanair's fuel hedges were built for a calmer Middle East, and the Iran conflict has pushed jet fuel costs past what those contracts were priced to absorb. US petrol crossing $4 a gallon again is t…Record rents plus an £1,145 childcare bill is the real UK inflation story this summerRightmove's record asking rent figure lands the same week families are told to budget £1,145 per child for summer holiday clubs, and together these numbers explain why headline CPI understates what…US inflation at 3.5% still isn't the Fed's numberFalling gasoline prices did the heavy lifting on this print, not underlying disinflation, and that distinction matters more than the headline drop. A 3.5% rate driven by energy is fragile precisely…Brent above $85 puts today's CPI print under more pressure than usualOil at $85 a barrel doesn't just squeeze margins, it drags straight into the inflation print markets are watching today, and traders are already repricing rate expectations ahead of the data rather…Fourth of July cookout costs up 4% overall, hamburger prices up 14% year-on-yearWells Fargo's annual cookout index puts beef inflation at 14 percent versus last July 4, a number that sits awkwardly alongside the Fed's softening jobs data and the narrative that consumer price p…ECB's Rehn calls the energy shock stagflationary. That word choice is load-bearing.ECB Governing Council member Olli Rehn has explicitly described the recent energy shock as stagflationary, which is not a word central bankers use casually. Stagflation removes the standard policy …Gold retreats on Iran ceasefire signalGold pulled back as the US-Iran halt-in-strikes announcement reduced immediate safe-haven demand. The move is mechanically consistent with reduced geopolitical premium, but with talks yet to produc…Apple passes the memory bill to consumers, and the iPhone's exemption is temporaryApple has raised prices on Macs and iPads by $200 or more on several models, with some lines up roughly 20 percent, citing a worsening memory chip crunch that has pushed NAND and DRAM costs sharply…US consumers are spending more and suffering more, simultaneouslyUS consumer spending accelerated in May even as inflation hit its highest reading in three years, a combination that looks resilient on the surface but masks a deteriorating real-income picture. Wh…South Korean producer prices are up 6.9% year-on-year. The Bank of Korea's next move is no longer obvious.South Korea's producer price index has hit its highest level since October 2022, with April's 6.9% year-on-year reading driven by a 73.9% surge in coal and petroleum product prices as the Hormuz cr…Corporate market caps above $1 trillion warp risk perceptionThe cognitive inability to distinguish between millions, billions and trillions is distorting investment decisions as corporate valuations enter the multi-trillion range. Most people systematically…Jeffries positions affordability as Democrats' 2026 priorityHouse Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries is explicitly positioning "driving down the high cost of living" as the central governing priority if Democrats recapture the House majority in 2026, establi…UK firms ditch permanent staff as costs surgeBritish employers are quietly abandoning permanent hiring for temporary workers as statutory costs spiral. Permanent placements fell at the fastest rate since January while temp billings hit 2.5-ye…Bond traders bet on CPI surge that keeps Fed hawkishFixed income markets are positioning for the strongest consumer price reading in years, with traders betting the data will force the Federal Reserve to stay restrictive longer than expected. The po…Industry balks at UK plan to tighten healthy food rulesThe government is reviewing whether to make its "less healthy" food classification stricter, potentially expanding which products face advertising and promotion bans. Business groups warn that tigh…Gold holds gains as Iran truce hopes ease inflation fearsSpot gold extended gains to around $4,585 per ounce as reports of a US-Iran ceasefire extension eased inflation concerns tied to energy supply disruptions. Silver jumped 1.2% to $78.68 while the Bl…ECB's Makhlouf keeps June rate hike on table as inflation risks mountGabriel Makhlouf refused to rule out another ECB rate hike next month, signaling the central bank's 2% inflation target trumps growth concerns. The Irish central bank governor told markets the ECB …Waitrose cuts prices on 1,000 products as M&S gains middle-class shoppersBritain's poshest grocer just invested £20 million in price cuts averaging 12% across 160 own-label lines, admitting it's losing the battle for cost-conscious middle-class customers. Waitrose has n…Pets at Home profit drops 60% despite new ranges and price cutsThe UK's largest pet retailer saw statutory profits plunge around 60% even as its turnaround plan starts showing sales traction in the second half. Pets at Home invested £4 million cutting prices o…ECB's Guindos signals weaker growth must factor into June decisionThe ECB's vice president added his voice to calls for considering economic weakness alongside inflation risks in next month's rate decision.Gold jumps as Iran deal prospects temper inflation fearsGold rose above $4,700/oz as signs of U.S.-Iran progress shift trader focus from geopolitical risk to the inflation outlook. Spot gold gained over 1% after touching March lows, with CFTC data showi…Multi-job workforce hits decade high as workers enter 'survival mode'American multiple jobholders have stayed above 5% of total employment for 11 straight months, hitting a 5.19% moving average not seen since December 2009. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows 8.2 …UK's craft beer boom goes flat as breweries call last ordersBritain's brewery count is falling after growing from 500 in the early 2000s to over 3,000 by the late 2010s, with insolvencies hitting 45 in the year to March 2023 versus 15 the prior year. Energy…Walmart sees consumer stress as gas tank fill-ups fall below 10 gallonsAverage fuel purchases at Walmart stations dropped below 10 gallons for the first time since 2022, signaling cash flow strain among lower-income shoppers. CFO John David Rainey called it a clear st…Philippine central bank signals peso at 63.5 per dollar 'might be okay'BSP Governor Eli Remolona broke with central bank tradition by naming a specific exchange rate level, saying 63.5 per dollar could be acceptable if depreciation remains orderly and non-inflationary…Southeast Asian yield curves may steepen on oil-driven fiscal pressureRising energy prices are widening the spread between short and long-term government bond yields across Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines as markets price higher inflation and larger…US long bond yield hits 5.14% as inflation fears returnThe 20-year Treasury yield spiked to 5.14% on Thursday, its highest level since August 2023, as markets price in a world where inflation never really dies. Traders now assign almost two-thirds prob…