A rebound in U.S. consumer prices in April signals inflation is stabilizing, supporting the case for Federal Reserve policy makers to raise interest rates, Labor Department figures showed Friday.
Highlights of CPI (April) Consumer-price index increased 0.2% (matching forecast) following 0.3% decline the prior month From a year earlier, prices were up 2.2% (forecast was 2.3%) after a 2.4% gain Excluding food and energy, core prices rose 0.1% from the prior month after falling 0.1%, and were up 1.9% from a year earlier, the least since October 2015
Key Takeaways
Businesses are regaining some pricing power as household spending grows and improving global demand helps to stabilize commodity costs, adding to signs that inflation is on track to meet or possibly exceed the Fed’s goal in coming months.
