What’s Up? (April 9-15)Inflation Falls, With Caveats
There was good news and bad news in last week’s inflation report. First, the good: The Consumer Price Index climbed 5 percent in March from a year earlier, a full percentage point lower than it was in February. That’s the slowest pace of price increases in almost two years. Details in the report, however, showed that inflation remained firm below the surface. A measure known as core inflation, which removes volatile food and fuel prices, picked up by 5.6 percent from a year earlier. Analysts say the new data probably helps make the case for another interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve at its next meeting in early May. But economic data isn’t the only consideration: Jerome H. Powell, the Fed chair, has said that the central bank is also keeping a close eye on credit conditions, after the recent bank failures.
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