Signs that consumer prices are rising even as the U.S. economy slows may delay additional moves by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke to spur growth.

The Fed chairman, who is scheduled to speak at a Jackson Hole, Wyoming, conference on Aug. 26, used the annual gathering of economists last year to hint at a second round of so-called quantitative easing, in which the Fed purchased $600 billion of Treasuries from November 2010 to June.

Investors, such as Barton Biggs, managing partner and co- founder of Traxis Partners LP, have called for the Fed to embark on a new round of asset purchases. Yesterday's announcement that the consumer price index rose 0.5 percent from June, more than twice the 0.2 percent median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, may embolden Fed policy makers who oppose further such measures.

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