December’s consumer prices are likely to be hot, but the peak could come soon
So what's the number going to be?
- The consumer price index is released by the Labor Department Wednesday and is expected to show headline inflation jumped by 7%, its fastest pace since 1982.
- The Federal Reserve is already on a path to raise interest rates to battle rising prices. A hot number should justify the Fed’s policy shift.
- “It’s still hot, hot, hot, and it’s important because we’re now where the Fed worries about that 7% number getting baked into wages and getting more entrenched,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Grant Thornton.
So what's the number going to be?