An inflation measure closely tracked by the Federal Reserve remained low last month, extending a trend of cooling price increases that clears the way for the Fed to start cutting its key interest rate next month for the first time in 4 1/2 years.
Prices rose just 0.2 percent from June to July, the Commerce Department said Friday, up a tick from the previous month’s 0.1 percent increase. Compared with a year earlier, inflation was unchanged at 2.5 percent.