EmailEconomic
Last Update: 16-May-13 09:08 ET
CPI
Highlights
- The CPI fell 0.4% in April after declining 0.2% in March. The Briefing.com consensus expected consumer prices to fall 0.2%.
- Excluding food and energy, core CPI increased 0.1% for a second consecutive month. The consensus expected these prices to increase 0.2%.
Key Factors
- Trends from yesterday’s PPI release were matched in the April CPI report.
- Energy prices fell 4.3% in April after declining 2.6% in March. Nearly the entire decline in the energy sector came from a 7.9% drop in gasoline prices.
- Food prices increased 0.2% in April, up from no growth in March.
- There were no unusual outliers in the core data and trends should remain tame for the next several months.
Big Picture
- Inflationary pressures will remain tame until income growth accelerates from its current pace.
| Category | APR | MAR | FEB | JAN | DEC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Items | -0.4% | -0.2% | 0.7% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Food and Beverages | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.2% |
| Housing | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| Equivalent Rent | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| Apparel | -0.3% | -1.0% | -0.1% | 0.8% | 0.1% |
| Transportation | -2.7% | -1.3% | 3.0% | -0.9% | -0.4% |
| Vehicles | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| Motor Fuel | -8.1% | -4.4% | 9.1% | -3.0% | -1.9% |
| Medical Care | 0.0% | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| Educ and Commun | -0.2% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.4% | 0.1% |
| Special Indices | |||||
| Core | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.1% |
| Energy | -4.3% | -2.6% | 5.4% | -1.7% | -0.8% |
| Services | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.2% |
