US panics over skyrocketing inflation

The Labor Department reported, consumer prices picked up momentum in September, with the most difficulty for people paying for medical care, education and gasoline.

Analysts said that although inflation is not a danger to the economy now, the acceleration justifies an interest rate increase next month by the Federal Reserve. They expect the Fed to lift short-term interest rates for a fourth time this year at its meeting on Nov. 10, informs The New York Times.

&to=http://english.pravda.ru/economics/2003/03/24/44902.html' target=_blank>Wall Street economists, who had expected both the overall and core measures to advance 0.2 percent, said the report did not herald a big inflationary outbreak but cautioned the latest oil-price spike had yet to show up in the data.

A senior Federal Reserve official also said the report did not appear troubling. "It doesn't start ringing any alarm bells," St. Louis Fed President William Poole told reporters.

Prices for U.S. Treasury bonds initially slipped as traders guessed firmer inflation would mean higher interest rates down the road, but by day's end were little changed.

The U.S. central bank is widely expected to raise overnight borrowing costs a quarter-percentage point to 2 percent at its next policy meeting on Nov. 10, which would mark the fourth consecutive interest-rate rise since late June, reports Reuters.