U.S. Consumer, Producer Price Inflation Data In Focus This Week

(RTTNews) - The U.S. economic calendar gets off to a relatively quiet start this week before picking up with the release of closely watched reports on consumer and producer price inflation in the coming days.

On Wednesday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its report on consumer price inflation in the month of March.

Economists currently expect consumer prices to rise by 0.3 percent in March following a 0.4 percent increase in February.

Core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy prices, are also expected to climb by 0.3 percent in March after rising by 0.4 percent in February.

The annual rate of consumer price growth is expected to accelerate to 3.4 percent in March from 3.2 percent in February, while the annual rate of core consumer price growth is expected to slow to 3.7 percent for 3.8 percent.

The Labor Department is scheduled to release a separate report on Thursday on producer price inflation in the month of March.

Producer prices are expected to rise by 0.3 percent in March after climbing by 0.6 percent in February, while the annual rate of producer growth is expected to jump to 2.3 percent from 1.6 percent.

The inflation data could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates, as Federal Reserve officials have repeatedly said they need greater confidence inflation is slowing before cutting rates.

Wednesday will also see the release of the minutes of the Fed's latest monetary policy meeting, which could also shed additional light on officials' thinking on rates.

Reports on weekly jobless claims, import and export prices and consumer sentiment may also attract attention later in the week.