The Financial Post reports in its Friday edition that United States Federal Reserve policymakers are increasingly likely to leave interest rates unchanged at their next meeting in September after fresh data showed further signs of cooling inflation. A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post reports that the core consumer price index, which excludes often-volatile food and energy costs, rose 0.2 per cent for a second month, Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed Aug. 10. That marked the smallest back-to-back gain in more than two years. The overall CPI also increased 0.2 per cent in July and 3.2 per cent from a year earlier. Chief economist at Santander U.S. Capital Markets, Stephen Stanley, said: "The Fed's got to be encouraged by two lower numbers in a row. I think their intention is to skip in September." The Fed in July increased the federal funds rate to a range of 5.25 per cent to 5.5 per cent, the highest level in 22 years. The median estimate of Fed officials' most recent quarterly projections, published in June, showed two more rate increases this year, the first of which was accomplished with last month's hike. Philadelphia Fed president Patrick Harker sees the Fed holding steady from here on out.