Inflation Powers Ahead In April, Rising 8.3% Despite Fed Cutting Interest Rates

Inflation remained uncomfortably high in April in a sign that efforts to combat it may not be doing enough to address price increases.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released the latest results of its Consumer Price Index (CPI), showing that headline inflation was 8.3% in the year through April. This increase overcame economists’ forecasts of 8.1% and it remained close to the highest level since August 1982.

Much of the increase has been driven by spikes in prices for food, energy, shelter and vehicles. According to the BLS, the cost of food rose 9.4% in the last year while prices for energy products rose 30.3%. The price of fuel oil rose by a massive 80.5% in the last year.

Energy prices, particularly for gas, have been a major driver of inflation in the last two months. According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), the average price for a gallon of gasoline is $4.40 nationally, but it stands as high as $5.84 in California where some counties reported prices as high as $6.

The CPI number for April was slightly lower than it was in March, when it reached 8.5% compared to the same time last year. Like the most recent figure, gas and fuel prices were the core drivers of higher prices.

The latest data follows the decision last week by the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in a bid to counter inflation. On May 4, the Fed hiked rates by half a percentage point, delivering a blow to equity markets that was still being absorbed at the start of this week.

In the weeks leading up to the rate hike, analysts forecast that the likelihood was high that the Fed would launch a larger rate increase, but they warned that it could move the economy closer to a recession within the year.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell acknowledged that the road ahead was filled with recessionary risks and that there were variables beyond the Fed's control.

“It’s not going to be easy. And it may well depend, of course, on events that are not under our control," said Powell at a press conference last Wednesday.