Government report says inflation could be slowing down

A new report from the U.S. Labor Department on Wednesday said that consumer price increases are slowing down. Consumer prices rose 0.1 percent from February to March, down from the 0.4 percent increase between January and February. On an annual basis, consumer prices were up 5 percent in March—the smallest year-over-year gain since May of 2021.

Will this affect the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes? The Federal Reserve considers consumer prices, and especially core prices—consumer prices excluding food and energy—to be a key measure of inflation. The Fed has raised interest rates nine times since March 2022 in an attempt to subdue inflation, which remains well over the Fed’s goal of 2 percent.

Dig deeper: Read Jerry Bowyer’s column in WORLD Opinions about how investors have given the U.S. economy a no-confidence vote for 2023.