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NEW YORK (Reuters) -Federal Reserve governor Adriana Kugler said Thursday the central bank has made considerable progress in working to achieve its job and inflation goals, while stopping short of offering firm guidance over what that means for the near-term monetary policy outlook. “The United States has seen considerable disinflation while experiencing a cooling but still resilient labor market,” Kugler said in a speech given before the 2024 Annual Meeting of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association and the Latin American and Caribbean Chapter of the Econometric Society, in Montevideo, Uruguay. But while there’s been progress on getting inflation back to the 2% target, Kugler noted there are likely to be ongoing challenges to further ease price pressures from housing factors and other factors.

(Bloomberg) -- US producer prices picked up in October, fueled in part by gains in portfolio management costs and other categories that feed into the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge.Most Read from BloombergUnder Trump, Prepare for New US Transportation PrioritiesZimbabwe City of 700,000 at Risk of Running Dry by Year-EndSaudi Neom Gets $3 Billion Loan Guarantee From Italy Export Credit Agency SaceNYC Congestion Pricing Plan With $9 Toll to Start in JanuaryThe Urban-Rural Divide Over

After the data, which showed producer prices excluding food and energy rose 3.1% in the 12 months through October, traders priced in about a 75% chance of a quarter-point interest-rate cut in December, versus more than 80% before the data.

Wholesale prices in the United States rose last month, remaining low but suggesting that the American economy has yet to completely vanquish inflationary pressure. Thursday's report from the Labor Department showed that its producer price index — which tracks inflation before it hits consumers — rose 0.2% from September to October, up from a 0.1% gain the month before. Compared with a year earlier, wholesale prices were up 2.4%, accelerating from a year-over-year gain of 1.9% in September.

The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits fell last week, suggesting the labor market continued to chug along and that the abrupt slowdown in job growth in October was an aberration. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 217,000 for the week ended Nov. 9, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Claims surged in early October amid distortions from Hurricanes Helene and Milton as a well as a strike by factory workers at Boeing, but layoffs have remained historically low, which is underpinning the economy.

(Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler said policymakers must keep their focus on both the central bank’s inflation and employment goals, pointing to a cooling labor market and slower progress toward the Fed’s 2% inflation target. Most Read from BloombergUnder Trump, Prepare for New US Transportation PrioritiesZimbabwe City of 700,000 at Risk of Running Dry by Year-EndSaudi Neom Gets $3 Billion Loan Guarantee From Italy Export Credit Agency SaceThe Urban-Rural Divide Over Highway

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