$ETH On Thursday (June 12), when the latest economic data from the United States was published, futures for interest rates linked to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy rate reflected that market bets on the Fed making two consecutive rate cuts starting in September were increasing.

The data released by the U.S. Department of Labor on the same day showed that the number of first-time unemployment benefit claims remained at a relatively high level until last week, indicating that the labor market is gradually cooling, further strengthening investors' expectations for flexible policies.

Meanwhile, another government report showed that the U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI) rose 2.6% year-on-year in May, in line with economists' expectations, indicating that inflationary pressures did not escalate further.

U.S. PPI rises less than expected in May

Affected by declining service costs such as airfares, the U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI) in May rose less than market expectations, further alleviating concerns about inflation and providing room for the Federal Reserve to resume interest rate cuts within the year.

According to data released on Thursday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the PPI increased by 0.1% month-on-month in May, reversing the revised decline of 0.2% in April. Previously, the market generally expected a month-on-month increase of 0.2% in the PPI for May, while preliminary data for April showed a decline of 0.5%.

In the 12 months up to May, the PPI rose 2.6% compared to the previous year, slightly more than the 2.5% in April, suggesting that overall inflationary pressures remained mild.

Consumer prices rose moderately and the market focused on tariff effects in the second half.