Inflation barreled ahead at 8.3% in April from a year ago, remaining near 40-year highs
PUBLISHED WED, MAY 11 2022 8:30 AM EDTUPDATED 2 MIN AGO
Jeff Cox
FTA
The consumer price index accelerated 8.3% in April, more than the 8.1% estimate and near the highest level in more than 40 years.
Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, also was higher than expected, rising 6.2%.
Shelter costs, which comprise about one-third of the CPI, rose at their fastest pace since 1991.
Inflation rose again in April, continuing a climb that has pushed consumers to the brink and is threatening the economic expansion, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday.
The consumer price index, a broad-based measure of prices for goods and services, increased 8.3% from a year ago, higher than the Dow Jones estimate for an 8.1% gain. That represented a slight ease from March’s peak but was still close to the highest level since the summer of 1982.
Removing volatile food and energy prices, so-called core CPI still rose 6.2%, against expectations for a 6% gain.
Inflation has been the single biggest threat to a recovery that began early in the pandemic and saw the economy in 2021 stage its biggest single-year growth level since 1984. Rising prices at the pump and in grocery stores have been one problem, but inflation has spread beyond those two areas into housing, auto sales and a host of other areas.
Federal Reserve officials have responded to the problem with two interest rate hikes so far this year and pledges of more until inflation comes down to the central bank’s 2% goal. However, Wednesday’s data shows that the Fed has a big job ahead.
The month-over-month gains also were higher than expectations — 0.3% on headline CPI vs. the 0.2% estimate and a 0.6% increase for core, against the outlook for a 0.4% gain.
Those readings came even though energy prices declined 2.7% for the month, including a 6.1% drop for gasoline. The BLS food index rose 0.9% in April, countering the deceleration in energy. On a 12-month basis, energy costs were still up 30.3% while food rose 9.4%, according to unadjusted data.
Adding to worries is the continuing rise in housing costs.
The shelter index, which makes up about one-third of the CPI weighting, increased another 0.5%, consistent with its rise over the previous two months, and was up 5.1% on a yearly basis, its fastest gain since March 1991.
Stock market futures reacted negatively to the report, turning negative after being positive earlier in the morning. Government bond yields rose, pushing the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note close to 3.03%.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/11/cpi-april-2022.html
Thomas Massie
@RepThomasMassie
Counting last night’s rushed vote, Congress has now spent more money on Ukraine in six months than we spend on all US roads and bridges in a year.
… something to think about the next time you are stuck in traffic or replacing a bent rim.
4:44 AM · May 11, 2022
https://twitter.com/RepThomasMassie/status/1524354863597072384?s=20&t=vF6ugbo2llG2yrE6oSsT6w
Watching Varney, some folks think because the index was 8.3% compared to last month 8.5%, that we have reached peak inflation. It would be nice if they are right, but nothing has changed as far as the issues with food (fertilizer, shipping, Ukraine, etc) and energy, and Biden’s proposals of taxing and spending will make it worse.