U.S. inflation cools slightly in April, but prices still elevated 

Consumer prices in the U.S. accelerated in April after months of declines, with measures of underlying inflation suggesting that rising costs could persist for months to come.

Consumer prices in the United States rose again in April, and measures of underlying inflation stayed high, suggesting that rising costs could persist for months to come.

Prices rose 0.4 per cent from March to April, the government said Wednesday, up from 0.1 per cent from February to March. Compared with a year earlier, prices climbed 4.9 per cent, down slightly from March’s year-over-year increase.

The nation’s inflation rate has steadily cooled since peaking at 9.1% last June but remains far above the Federal Reserve’s two per cent target rate.

The Fed is paying particular attention to so-called core prices, which exclude volatile food and energy costs and are regarded as a better gauge of longer-term inflation trends. Core prices rose 0.4% from March to April, the same as from February to March.

It was the fifth straight month that core prices have risen by 0.4 per cent or more. Increases at that pace are far above the Fed’s 2 per cent target.

Compared with a year ago, core prices rose 5.5 per cent, just below a yearly increase of 5.6 per cent in March.

Economists say the overall slowdown in U.S. inflation since last summer might turn out to have been a relatively easy phase of the nation’s drive to conquer inflation.

The supply chain snarls that left many grocery shelves bare and delayed the delivery of furniture, cars, electronics and numerous other goods have been resolved. Gas prices have dropped since topping $5 a gallon nationally after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, though they rose again in April after OPEC agreed to cut oil output.