United States: Inflation rises to in at highest level since September 2008 in April
Consumer prices rose a seasonally-adjusted 0.77% in April over the previous month, picking up from March’s 0.62% rise. April’s figure marked the sharpest increase in prices since June 2009. Looking at the details of the release, food prices rose at a quicker pace in April compared to the previous month, while price pressures for transportation also increased robustly.
Inflation came in at 4.2% in April, up from March’s 2.6%. April’s result was the highest inflation rate since September 2008—predominately due to a low base effect. Annual average inflation rose to 1.5% in April (March: 1.2%). Lastly, core inflation came in at 3.0% in April from the previous month’s 1.6% increase.
Commenting on inflationary pressures ahead, Leslie Preston, a senior economist at TD Economics, noted:
“We expect many of these pandemic related price swings to be transitory. However, other less-affected areas are also seeing sturdy price increases, and April marked the third straight month of accelerating price increases for core services. We expect the acceleration in economic growth will result in a continued pick up in core inflation in the months ahead. But that the pace is unlikely to worry the Fed too much now that it is targeting an average rate that will require an overshoot of 2% in order to make up for past weakness.”