U.S. Consumer Prices Rise by Less Than Expected

Cash (Ryan Shea / Flickr / CC)
Ryan Shea / Flickr / CC

Inflation in the United States once again was surprisingly low in April.

The Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index rose 0.2 percent in April after falling 0.1 percent in March. Compared with a year ago, the CPI is up 2.5 percent.

Economists had forecast a 0.3 percent rise in the index.

Excluding food and energy, the more volatile components of CPI, the index rose just 0.1 percent. Economists had forecast a 0.2 percent gain in this “core CPI” measure.  This was a decline from the 0.2 percent core CPI rose in March and February.

In short, excluding food and energy, price gains slowed in April from earlier in the year.

 

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