PANews reported on February 12 that according to Jinshi, Nick Timiraos, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal known as the "Federal Reserve's mouthpiece," pointed out that not all monthly CPI inflation reports are equally important. In an economy facing price pressures, the January CPI data has a greater impact. Timiraos said that the inflation report to be released this week may show whether the Fed's efforts to lower inflation have cleared a key obstacle. The beginning of the year is when companies take into account higher food, energy and labor costs for the year.
The Labor Department is scheduled to release January CPI data on Wednesday, and another PPI report on wholesale prices will be released on Thursday. Timiraos emphasized that the stakes for the Fed are high. A year ago, inflation seemed to be moving rapidly toward the Fed's goals, but they encountered a major obstacle in the first quarter. In addition, officials encountered a similar inflation surprise in early 2023, when changes in seasonal adjustment factors offset the Fed's previous progress.
Timiraos also said that the second reason why tonight's inflation report is particularly important is that Trump is implementing new tariffs, including an additional 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports, which further complicates the inflation outlook for 2025.
