Inflationary pressures were lower in January as the U.S. future inflation gauge fell to a 50-year low of 81.8 from a downwardly revised 84.5 in December, originally reported as 88.5, according to data released Friday by the Economic Cycle Research Institute.
The smoothed annualized growth rate, a comparison of the latest figures to the preceding year’s average level, widened to negative 38.8% from negative 37.9%, originally reported as negative 36.5%.
The January decrease was driven by disinflationary moves, measures of loans, vendor performance, unemployment, and job growth, partly offset by a positive contribution from a measure of commodity prices, ECRI said.
“With the USFIG locked in a clear cyclical downswing, U.S. inflation pressures are essentially nonexistent. Rather, there are continued downward pressures on U.S. consumer prices,” ECRI said in a release.
