By Cristian Bustos. Originally published at ValueWalk.
Inflation in the U.S. showed signs of tailing off in April as prices increased 8.3% from the same month last year. The month-to-month variation was 0.3%, depicting the slowest pace since the summer of 2021.
Inflation In The U.S.
Inflation in April was certainly below March’s pace of 8.5% year-on-year and 1.2% from February. According to The Washington Post, American households are bearing the heavy brunt of soaring prices, but the data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics might hint that inflation could slow down.
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Key factors such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Covid-related restrictions in China have played a major role in skyrocketing energy and commodity prices.
April inflation data was mainly comprised of rising costs of shelter, airfare, and the higher price of new vehicles. However, while the food index grew by 0.9% from March to April, the energy index dropped 2.7% in April after an 11% hike the previous month.
“The index for used cars and trucks also fell 0.4 percent over the month, its third straight decline after a long series of increases,” The Washington Post reports.
Pressures
Still, experts assert that more data needs to be collected to predict inflation behavior in the next few months.
The rising prices have increased the number of people seeking help at shelters, according to Rachel Reynolds, director of marketing at Atlanta Mission.
She says, “A lot of the patterns I’ve seen, regarding the pandemic, are that it has caused financial stress. We have people who weren’t able to make rent, weren’t able to pay for child care or the cost of living.”
Energy prices have increased, affecting gas prices at the pump with the average price per gallon hitting $4.37 on Tuesday as reported by the AAA —the highest mark since 2000 when the item started being recorded.
As the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by half a percentage point to a range of 0.75%-1%, Chairman Jerome Powell said: “It’s our job to make sure that inflation of that unpleasant high nature doesn’t get entrenched in the economy.”
“Now, the process of getting there involves higher rates, so higher mortgage rates, higher borrowing rates, and things like that. So it’s not going to be pleasant either. But in the end, everyone is better off,” he added.
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