Policymakers at the Federal Reserve (Fed) expressed concern about inflation at their monetary policy meeting in January, in particular that it had spread beyond pandemic-affected sectors into other areas, minutes of the meeting released on Wednesday showed.

Officials also agreed it would be warranted to begin scaling back their support for the economy faster than they previously had anticipated. Some participants warned that inflation could continue to accelerate, pointing to factors like rising wages and rents. The Fed’s next monetary policy meeting is scheduled for March 15-16.

Analysts are currently forecasting a 55.7 per cent chance of a 25-basis point rate increase and a 44.3 per cent chance of a 50-basis point rate hike.

The UK unemployment rate remained unchanged in the three months to December, the Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday. The UK’s official jobless rate came in at 4.1 per cent in the review period. It remained unchanged from the three months to November and matched economists’ expectations but is still slightly above its pre-pandemic level.

The data also showed that in the fourth quarter, average earnings including bonuses grew by 4.3 per cent, faster than the expected rate of 3.8 per cent. Similarly, excluding bonuses, regular pay was up by 3.7 per cent compared to the forecast of 3.6 per cent.

China’s consumer price inflation, as well as factory gate inflation, cooled further in January, amid weakening property sector demand, new coronavirus curbs and government efforts to rein in surging materials costs, giving room to the central bank to ease its policy to support economic recovery.

Consumer price inflation slowed to 0.9 per cent in January from a year earlier, down from 1.5 per cent in December, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Wednesday. The rate was forecast to decrease to one per cent. Food prices dropped by 3.8 per cent in January, following a 1.2 per cent decrease in December, due to the sharp 41.6 per cent decline in pork prices.

Another report from the NBS revealed that factory gate inflation came in at 9.1 per cent in January, down from 10.3 per cent a month ago, its slowest pace in six months.

This article has been prepared by Bank of Valletta plc for general information purposes only.