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Year-on-year inflation fell slightly in April after months of constant increases, although it still persists in four-decade records, affecting millions of households trying to keep up with rising prices.
Just a breath. Since April of last year, overall prices in the United States have risen 8.3%. Although the figure dropped two tenths compared to the 8.5% year-on-year registered in March, it puts more pressure on the United States Federal Reserve to maintain its accelerated monetary policy, which makes the stock markets nervous.
Comparing monthly terms, prices rose 0.3% from March to April, the smallest rise in eight months. This increase was motivated by the high prices of airline tickets, hotel rooms and new vehicles, as well as apartment rentals.
Today’s data “makes it clear that there is still a long way to go before inflation returns to more acceptable levels,” said Eric Winograd, an economist at asset manager AB.
Energy prices, which include gasoline, crude oil, electricity and natural gas increased 30.3% in the last 12 months, mainly due to increases in international oil prices, which are around 80.5%, while gasoline increased by 43.6% compared to last year.
Food is up 9.4% in a year, especially supermarket purchases, which are up 10.8%, while restaurant food is up 7.2%. Core inflation continues to cause concern. This indicator, which excludes volatile food and fuel prices, stands at 6.2% year-on-year.
Another decrease was for second-hand vehicles, which at the end of 2021 were skyrocketing and now began to decline: they fell 0.2% in February, 3.8% in March and 0.4% in April.
President Joe Biden, whose popularity has been affected by price increases, assured a day before the April rate was published that inflation is his “top domestic priority.”
Measures to combat inflation
Just today his government announced three measures to combat the increase in agricultural prices: broaden insurance coverage assumptions for certain crops, increase technical support for so-called “precision agriculture” and double funds for domestic production of fertilizers.
Inflation has become an Achilles’ heel for the Federal Reserve, which last week announced a half-point interest rate hike, the biggest increase in more than two decades, and anticipated more hikes at its next meetings.
After two years of having the value of money at zero to withstand the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the official interest rate is now between 0.75% and 1%, something that has generated a massive sale of shares on Wall Street.
with EFE
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