Despite a broadly shared view that the U.S. labor market has healed enough to allow the Federal Reserve to start reducing its monthly bond purchases as soon as next month, policymakers remain divided over inflation and what they should do about it.
The U.S. government reported on Thursday that producer prices rose 8.6 percent in the 12 months through September, the biggest year-on-year advance in nearly 11 years. Data on Wednesday showed U.S. consumer prices shot up 5.4 percent over the same period. But data from both reports also suggested COVID-driven price increases may already have peaked, with month-to-month gains slowing.
