Daily News 8/28/2015

August 28, 2015

Friday – August 28

Inflation remained tame in July due to falling prices at the gas pumps, which could give the Federal Reserve reason to hold off on an interest rate hike in September. The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported that Core Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE), which measures the prices paid by consumers for goods and services minus food and energy, rose by 0.1% in July, inline with expectations. The Core PCE on an annual basis rose by 1.2%, below the 1.3% expected.

Within the report from the BEA, it also showed that Americans continued to spend on goods and services at a decent clip in July. Personal Spending rose by 0.3%, which was just below the 0.4% expected, while Personal Income rose by 0.4%, also matching expectations. In addition, the personal savings rate was 4.9% in July, up from 4.7% in June.

The recent decline in U.S. Stock markets coupled with the slowdown in growth in China led consumer attitudes lower in August. The Consumer Sentiment Index fell to 91.9 this month, down from the initial August reading of 92.9 and down from the June reading of 93.1. The index for expectations six months from now dropped to 83.4, the lowest since November, while Americans views of their personal finances declined to a three-month low.