U.S. inflationary pressures were lower in December as the U.S. future inflation gauge fell to a 47-year low of 85.5 from a downwardly revised 86.7 in November, 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, narrowed to negative 36.5% from negative 37.7%, originally reported as negative 35.3%.
The December decrease was driven by disinflationary moves in measures of commodity prices, vendor performance, unemployment, and job growth, partly offset by inflationary moves in measures of loans and interest rates, ECRI said in a release.
“It is notable that the USFIG was in a clear cyclical downswing in mid-2008, when financial markets and monetary policy makers alike were mistakenly concerned about the threat of inflation,” ECRI said. “With the USFIG now sliding to a half-century low, U.S. inflation pressures are in full retreat.”
