Calling the top of the current wave of inflation has been a painful exercise for economists; and central bankers, who have been proven wrong time and again over the past year.
But data on Wednesday, which showed that some measures of inflation had cooled in the world’s two largest economies; was likely to rekindle a debate about whether the worst might be over after a year of torrid price growth.
U.S. consumer prices did not rise in July from the month before due to a sharp drop in the cost of gasoline, delivering the first notable sign of relief for Americans who have watched inflation climb over the past two years.
And China’s factory-gate inflation slowed to a 17-month low on an annual basis while consumer prices rose less than expected. read more
After wrongly predicting last year that high inflation would be transitory, most central bankers have stopped trying to put an exact date on when they expect current price growth to peak.