The March inflation rate eased to a 2.4% rise from the previous year's 2.8%. Monthly prices dropped by 0.1%, attributed primarily to declining gasoline costs, despite rising grocery and housing prices. Concerns over a potential trade war due to President Trump's tariff threats have sparked fears of rising consumer costs in the future, overshadowing the positive inflation data. Economists expect prices will rise in the coming months as tariffs impact consumers. The Federal Reserve's response to this data is likely to be tempered as trade discussions continue to dominate market focus.
March inflation data were somewhat lower than expected, giving the Fed the opportunity to worry less about inflation, but I don't expect to see a big shift in monetary policy expectations as a result of this one reading.
Overall prices rose 2.4% in March from a year earlier, slower than the 2.8% gain recorded in February, according to the Labor Department's consumer price index data released Thursday.
Collection
[
|
...
]