AB Productions | Source: AP
Washington
Inflation in the U.S. rose marginally in March from a month earlier. The U.S. government reported that living standards rose 5 percent last month compared to a year earlier. Inflation was still around 6 percent in February, but falling prices of fuel and second-hand cars held back further currency depreciation.
Core inflation, important to the Federal Reserve, increased. That’s inflation without price fluctuations for energy and food. It was 5.6 percent year-on-year, up from 5.5 percent in February. For example, the cost of living rose by more than 8 percent year-on-year, and transportation costs by nearly 14 percent.
Food prices in the US are rising even faster. Eating at home is up 8.4 percent from a year ago, and eating out is up 8.8 percent. But on the other hand, fuel is more than 17 percent cheaper than a year ago. Americans paid 10 percent more for electricity than March 2022.
Inflation figures play an important role in the central bank’s interest rate policy aimed at keeping inflation under control. The fact that inflation is rising at a slower pace is good news in that sense and means that interest rates will not be raised further. But both inflation and core inflation are still well above the central bank’s target of 2 percent.
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