US inflation pressures rise to 10-month high - ECRI

NEW YORK, Sept 4 (Reuters) - A gauge of U.S. inflation
pressures rose sharply to a ten-month high in August,
indicating that deflation is unlikely under current economic
conditions, a research group said on Friday.

The Economic Cycle Research Institute's U.S. Future
Inflation Gauge (USFIG), designed to anticipate cyclical swings
in the rate of inflation, rose to 89.6 in August from 84.6 in
July.

The index has now risen from a 51-year low in March to a
ten-month high, said Lakshman Achuthan, managing director at
ECRI.

"Thus, the risk of deflation has clearly dissipated for
now, but inflation is not yet a clear and present danger," he
said.

The July USFIG annualized growth rate, which smoothes out
monthly fluctuations, shot higher to 6.5 percent from negative
8.8 percent in July, revised from negative 8.6 percent.

The gauge was pushed higher by rising commodity prices,
said Achuthan.

(Reporting by Ciara Linnane; Editing by Andrew Hay)