Consumer prices rose 0.4 percent in March and the annual inflation rate ticked up to 3.5 percent, the highest rate seen since September.
by Eric Boehm
Reason.com
At the start of the year, it looked like America’s fight with inflation was finally coming to an end.
Not so fast.
Consumer prices rose 0.4 percent in March and the annual inflation rate ticked up to 3.5 percent, according to data released Wednesday morning by the Department of Labor. So-called “core inflation,” which filters out the more volatile categories like food and energy prices, also jumped 0.4 percent in the past month and has climbed by 3.8 percent since a year ago. Both figures rang in higher than expected.
Inflation remains well below the shockingly high levels reached in 2022—when it peaked above 9 percent—but the past two months have been a worrying reversal. March’s annual inflation figure of 3.5 percent is the highest mark since September.