The annual rate of inflation in the United States continued to decline in Marchfor the ninth consecutive month, and stood at 5%, one point below that of February, according to data published this Wednesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS, in English).
This is the strongest drop since the indicator began to decline in July 2022 and, according to the agency, the 5% inflation rate is the lowest since May 2021.
In monthly terms, on the contrary, consumer prices rose by one tenth in March (compared to the four tenths they rose in February), at a time when the Federal Reserve (Fed) is closely analyzing the effects of price rises. types in prices.
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The housing index was the one that contributed the most to the monthly increase in prices, with a rise of six tenths. YoY, accumulates an increase of 8.2% compared to March 2022.
Conversely, energy prices fell 3.5% on a monthly basis and, year-on-year, fell 6.4%.
The food index remained unchanged in March but in year-on-year terms accumulates a rise of 8.5%.
Core inflation, which measures the rise in consumer prices minus food and energy prices, the most volatile, rose four tenths in March and placed its interannual rate at 5.6%.
In a statement, US President Joe Biden welcomed the data and considered that it reflects the “continuous progress” that his government has made in the fight against inflation.
My Administration continues to fight to reduce costs for families,” Biden stressed.
Fed warns of interest rate hikes
The inflation data is released at a key moment, in which it is closely analyzed whether the constant interest rate hikes carried out by the Fed are having the desired effect of containing prices.
On March 22, the regulator announced the ninth consecutive increase in interest rates of 0.25 points, and with this, they were placed in a range between 4.75% and 5%.
The Fed decided to be prudent, in the midst of a banking crisis caused by the collapse of two banks in the United States, a situation that for the moment the authorities have managed to contain.
The regulator announced that “some additional tightening” of its monetary policy may be appropriate to achieve its inflation target, although it stressed that it will continue to monitor any repercussions it may have.
However, at the press conference after the data was released, the Fed Chairman, Jerome Powell, He anticipated that as a consequence of the banking crisis, interest rate increases may not be adequate to contain inflation.
To try to put a stop to the rise in prices and with runaway inflation that reached 9.1% in June 2022, the Fed began the increases in March 2022 with a timid 0.25.
In May, it raised rates by 0.5 points and in June it already began a series of increases of 0.75 points, before slowing down to 0.50 last December and reducing them even more, to 0.25, in February.
The next meeting of the agency’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will take place on May 1 and 2.
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EFE International news agency based in Madrid and present in more than 110 countries.