Last week’s data shows that the slowdown in US inflation continues unabated as consumer inflation and inflation have generally fallen below forecasts, reducing the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates for the third time this year, forcing the dollar to drop versus major currencies. Production prices in the US unexpectedly dropped in July. The index is down 0.1% on a monthly basis, statistics show, which is the same as in April this year. In June, 0.1% growth was reported.
It is expected that the Federal Reserve’s report this week will provide investors with a fresh look at the central bank’s thinking about monetary policy. On an annual basis, manufacturing inflation slowed from 2% in June to 1.9% in July. Basic output, excluding food, energy and trade, remained zero on a monthly basis in July, after it was 0.2% in July. On an annual basis, underlying inflation slowed down from 2% in June to 1.9% in July.
In July, the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged, citing concerns about the rising rate of inflation.
US entrepreneurs have unveiled a record high number of jobs in June. This is a signal that stable recruitment in recent months is likely to continue. The US Department of Labor announced that job vacancies have jumped 8 percent to 6.2 million, which is the highest value since 2000.
President Donald Trump shook the markets late Tuesday, warning North Korea that threats to the United States would “be welcomed with fire and fury.” But North Korea neglects the warning and said it was “carefully investigating” an attack plan for Guam where it is located US military base.
Geopolitical tensions intensified later this week as Trump assumed that the warning of “fire and fury” was not “strong enough.” Trump later added that US weapons were “loaded” while Pyongyang accused him of bringing the Korean Peninsula to the brink of nuclear war.
Shares of Snap Inc. fell 14% on Friday, a day after the social media company announced lower-than-expected number of daily active users for Snapchat, the popular messaging app for the second quarter, against strong competition from Facebook and Instagram.
