CPI Report: Inflation Slows in March

Going forward the Fed is likely to face a difficult trade-off as tariff driven price increases start to feed through to the inflation data and activity remains soft.

Goldman Sachs co-head of fixed income Kay Haigh, commenting on March’s CPI report, which shows that inflation “eased more than expected.” (CNBC)

Why It Matters: The Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures a mixed basket of costs of goods and services in the U.S. and is used as an important gauge of inflation (high inflation = your dollar buys you less). Today’s report shows prices decreased 0.1% month over month; this is “the first time monthly CPI prices have fallen since May 2020.” (Yahoo Finance)

The Numbers:

• Today’s report shows that the 12-month inflation rate fell to 2.4% in March, down from 2.8% in February.
• Grocery prices rose 0.4%, mostly driven by the fact that egg prices rose 5.9% from February to March and 60.4% annually.
• Prices decreased for used cars, airline fares and car insurance.
• Core inflation (“core CPI”) — seen as a better data point as the measure strips out volatile energy and food prices — shows that prices in March increased 0.1% over the prior month, coming in at 2.8% and better than the 3% expected by financial analysts.

Read More: READ the full CPI report HERE (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Inflation rate eases to 2.4% in March, lower than expected; core at 4-year low (CNBC)

CPI inflation falls in March as annual core consumer prices rise at slowest rate in four years (Yahoo Finance)