Inflation rate falls below 5% for first time since June 2021

Inflation cooled in April, with consumer prices rising at a 4.9% annual pace, marking the first time since June 2021 that the rate has dropped below 5%. It's also the slowest rise in two years, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Wednesday. 

Core inflation, which excludes volatile energy and food costs, increased at a 5.5% rate.

For two years, high inflation has been a significant burden for America's consumers, an ongoing threat to the economy and a frustrating challenge for the Federal Reserve, which has hiked its key interest rate at the fastest pace since the 1980s to try to slow the economy and put the brakes on price increases.