Consumer prices rose a scant 0.1% in March largely because of lower energy costs, but U.S. inflation more broadly was still high and showed little prospect of rapidly subsiding soon. Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had forecast a 0.2% increase in the consumer price index. The yearly rate of inflation slowed to 5% from 6%, marking the lowest level since May 2021.
More negatively, the so-called core rate of inflation that omits food and energy rose a sharper 0.4%. Wall Street had forecast a 0.4% gain. The increase in the core rate over the past 12 months moved up to 5.6% from 5.5%. These prices have fallen more slowly than the broader CPI and point to inflation remaining stubbornly high through most of the year.
Source: MarketWatch