The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that United States consumer prices rose in August, with a key measure of inflation showing its largest increase in four months, bolstering expectations for a Federal Reserve interest rate hike this week. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe repots that the Labor Department's Consumer Price Index report on Friday, along with strong Producer Price Index readings, suggests that PCE inflation, excluding food and energy, increased in August. This is significant as these measures are central to the U.S. central bank's 2-per-cent inflation target. Financial markets initially estimated a 91-per-cent chance of a quarter-point rate hike at the Fed's upcoming meeting, which later adjusted to 87 per cent, up from 72 per cent on Thursday. The current benchmark overnight interest rate is between 3.5 per cent and 3.75 per cent. Economists believe that strong inflation data and an improving labour market in August will lead the Fed to raise borrowing costs next Wednesday, and potentially again in October or December. They argued that with the Iran war continuing, the energy shock would spread through the economy. They also expected an artificial intelligence buildout to drive inflation.