Economics
The World Economy Gets an Inflation Checkup This Week
- U.S., China scheduled to release January price data this week
- Global central banks may keep interest rates lower for longer
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The world economy is set to get fresh insight into whether inflation is turning sluggish again as the U.S. and China publish price data that’s set to endorse the decision of central banks to steer away from tighter monetary policy.
A measure of U.S. core consumer inflation likely eased to 2.1 percent on an annual basis, helping to justify the Federal Reserve’s pause in its interest-rate hike cycle, according to economists surveyed ahead of a report due Wednesday. While China’s factory inflation reading on Friday will probably show a mere 0.3 percent increase from a year earlier, economists at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. expect a fall back into negative territory for the first time since 2016.