US financial news live updates: Fed rate decision, CPI, Social Security payments, SNAP benefits…

Hello and welcome to AS USA’s live blog covering financial news. 

This has been a big week. The US Federal Reserve Chair, Jerome Powell, made an announcement yesterday stating that there will be no increase in interest rates for June. This marks the first time in the last fifteen months that rates will remain unchanged. Although Chair Powell mentioned the possibility of a rate hike in July, the Free Open Market Committee is currently assessing the impact of their monetary policy changes and has decided that a temporary pause is the most prudent course of action.

On Tuesday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that in May, the Consumer Price Index rose 0.1 percent, bringing the annualized inflation rate down to four percent. The increase was driven by the housing sector, where costs have increased eight percent over the last year, with renters facing an especially higher burden with the average new lease rising by 8.7 percent. 

Later today, the Department of Labor will release the unemployment claims report for this week. Last week, claims had hit highs not seen since 2021, a sign that the labor market is cooling down and a greater number of workers are being separated.