U.S. consumer prices accelerated in August, while a key measure of underlying inflation posted its largest increase in four months, reinforcing expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next week.
The Labor Department's Consumer Price Index report on Friday followed strong readings in several components of the Producer Price Index released on Thursday that feed into the Personal Consumption Expenditures price indexes, the inflation measures the U.S. central bank tracks for its 2% target. The two reports led economists to think that PCE inflation excluding the volatile food and energy categories picked up in August.
