The April CPI Report

The inflation report for April came out this morning and it showed that inflation still plagues the U.S. economy. For the month of April, consumer prices rose by 0.33%. That’s the lowest since August 2021. Over the last year, consumer prices are up 8.22%. That’s down some from the 12-month figure ending in March.

The drop in gasoline helped a lot last month.

The price gains also meant that workers continued to lose ground. Real wages adjusted for inflation decreased 0.1% on the month despite a nominal increase of 0.3% in average hourly earnings. Over the past year, real earnings have dropped 2.6% even though average hourly earnings are up 5.5%.

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The CPI gains 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. Gasoline costs at the pump this week reached their highest level ever not adjusted for inflation.

Core inflation rose by 0.57% last month. That’s pretty much in line with the last few months. The 12-month increase to core inflation is now at 6.13%.

Airline fares continued their climb as more people take to the skies amid increased business travel and vacations. Prices rose 18.6% on the month and are up, according to unadjusted data, 33.3% over the past year.

Auto sales also have been a big contributor to inflation as supply chain issues, especially with the semiconductors vital to vehicle operating systems, have pushed prices up. Used vehicle prices fell 0.4% on the month but new vehicle prices rose 1.1%. Prices rose 22.7% and 13.2% for the two categories respectively over the past year.

April also saw big price increases across selected food areas. Chicken was up 3.4% and eggs surged 10.3% amid a bird flu scare, while Bacon rose 2.5% and breakfast cereal was up 2.4% Ham prices fell 1.8%.

Posted by on May 11th, 2022 at 9:55 am


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