Inflation in the US in March was the lowest in almost two years

Inflation in the US in March amounted to 5% in annual terms. Such data today, April 12, presented US Department of Labor. This is the lowest rate since May 2021. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected inflation to hit 5.2% in March. Compared to February, consumer prices rose by 0.1%. In February, annual inflation was 6%, and growth compared to January – 0.4%. Inflation in the US has slowed for the ninth consecutive month, peaking at 9.1% in June.

Gasoline prices decreased in March by 4.6% compared to February, and electricity prices – by 0.7%. In addition to various categories of energy products, consumer prices for used cars (by 0.9%), medical services (by 0.5%) and foodstuffs (by 0.3%) decreased. This is the first price cut for groceries since September 2020. At the same time, transport services (by 1.4%), food in cafes and restaurants (by 0.6%), new cars (by 0.4%), clothing (by 0.3%) and some other goods rose in price in March. and services.

Inflation slowed down, among other things, due to the growth of the Fed’s key rate – in March it was once again increased, by 0.25 percentage points, to 4.75–5%. At the same time, inflation remains quite high: it averaged 2.1% in the three years before the pandemic, and the Fed’s target is 2%. “This is unlikely to change anything in terms of (further actions.— ”b”) FRS. The problem of inflation does not solve itself – it needs a higher unemployment rate,” Steve Blitz, senior economist at TS Lombard, commented on the data for March. Last week were presented data on a decrease in the unemployment rate in March by 0.1 percentage points, to 3.5%. According to most analysts, the Fed is likely to raise rates again at the next meeting.

Yana Rozhdestvenskaya