WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 11, 2022)— The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.3 percent in April on a seasonally adjusted basis after rising 1.2 percent in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 8.3 percent before seasonal adjustment. Increases in the indexes for shelter, food, airline fares, and new vehicles were the largest contributors to the seasonally adjusted all items increase. The food index rose 0.9 percent over the month as the food at home index rose 1.0 percent. The energy index declined in April after rising in recent months. The index for gasoline fell 6.1 percent over the month, offsetting increases in the indexes for natural gas and electricity.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ April Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 8.3% in April over last year, indicating that drop in prices in goods and services continue to cause the consumer economic problems and concerns. Consensus economists were expecting an 8.1% increase in April, according to Bloomberg.
On a month-over-month basis, the broadest measure of CPI increased by 0.3%, compared to March’s 1.2% rise.
And much of the deceleration in CPI for April came from the volatile energy component. This had been expected, since prices for crude oil, gas and other energy commodities moderated in April after spiking in March immediately following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
And indeed, the energy price index fell 2.7% in April compared to March, after soaring by 11% during the previous month. Within this category, the motor fuel index dropped 5.8% and the gasoline index dropped by 6.1%, and energy commodities index dipped by 5.4% compared to March.
And even excluding energy and the similarly volatile food category, core CPI decelerated only modestly in April compared to March. Core CPI rose by 6.2% last month over last year, following March’s 6.5% increase. And on a month-over-month basis, core CPI rose 0.3%, compared to the 0.4% rate expected.
Shelter prices, considered one of the stickier price categories, rose by 0.5% on a monthly basis in April for a third consecutive month. Prices for new vehicles also accelerated markedly, jumping 1.1% for the fastest monthly rise since December. And other reopening-related categories also ramped up in April, including airline fares, which jumped 18.6% to build on March’s 10.7% monthly rise.
For investors, the latest inflation report serves as a closely watched gauge of the inflation Americans are experiencing for groceries, gas, housing and a variety of other goods and services. Though some consumption data and company reports have suggested consumers are still spending despite rising prices, investors have been closely watching to see whether persistently high inflation eventually curbs consumption significantly. This would in turn drag on U.S. economic growth, which depends most heavily on consumer spending.
And the CPI data also acts as an indicator of how much action the Federal Reserve may need to take in order to bring inflation back down to its 2% target. With inflation having run well above that level for the past year, the central bank has already raised interest rates by a total of 75 basis points across two Federal Open Market Committee meetings in the past three months, while signaling more rate hikes are in the pipeline for this year.
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Source: Yahoo News wrote the original article, Bee News Daily contributed.