The annual rate of US consumer inflation halved from nearly 3% in the period from July 2018 to February 2019, before it then increased to just under 2%. At the same time, core inflation has been much less volatile and it has ranged between 2.00% and 2.30%. In recent times, differences between the two measures has mostly been caused by changes in gasoline (petrol) prices.
Consumer price index (CPI) figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated seasonally-adjusted consumer prices increased on average by 0.4% in March, above the 0.4% consensus figure and higher than February’s 0.2% increase. On a 12-month basis, the inflation rate jumped from February’s annual rate of 1.5% to 1.8%. The primary driver of the increase was another move in gasoline prices.
“Core” inflation, a measure of inflation which strips out the volatile food and energy components of the index, increased on a seasonally-adjusted basis by +0.1% for the month, under the 0.2% increase expected. The annual rate slipped from 2.1% to 2.0%.