Key US inflation gauge holds mostly steady though core inflation ticks higher

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER Associated Press Economics Writer WASHINGTON AP The Federal Reserve s preferred inflation gauge mostly held steady last month despite President Donald Trump s broad-based tariffs but a measure of underlying inflation increased Related Articles Fed governor Cook to seek court order blocking her firing by Trump Stocks add a bit to their records on Wall Street pressure washers are under recall after various consumers description explosions and impact injuries Average rate on a -year mortgage slips to -month low Online age checks are proliferating but so are concerns they curtail internet freedom Prices rose in July compared with a year ago the Commerce Department declared Friday the same annual increase as in June Excluding the volatile food and resource categories prices rose from a year earlier up from in the previous month and the highest since February The figures illustrate why a multitude of administrators at the Federal Reserve have been reluctant to cut their key interest rate While inflation is much lower than the roughly peak it reached three years ago it is still running noticeably above the Fed s target Fed Chair Jerome Powell has noted the central bank will likely cut its key rate at its meeting next month But policymakers are expected to proceed cautiously and it s not clear how various more rate cuts will happen this year When the Fed reduces its key rate it often though not dependably lowers borrowing costs for things like mortgages car loans and business borrowing Trump has relentlessly pushed Powell and the Fed for lower interest rates since earlier this year calling Powell Too Late and a moron and arguing that there is no inflation On Monday he sought to fire Lisa Cook a member of the Fed s governing board in an effort to gain greater control over the central bank