U.S. inflation accelerated in March for the third straight month likely delaying interest rate cuts

Inflation accelerated in March for the third straight month, with prices already painfully high for millions of Americans and likely delaying any interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
Megan Henney for FOX Business:
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The Labor Department said Wednesday that the consumer price index, a broad measure of the price of everyday goods including gasoline, groceries and rent, rose 0.4% in March from the previous month. Prices climbed 3.5% from the same time last year, above the 3.2% figure recorded in February.
Both of those figures came in higher than the 0.3% monthly increase and 3.2% headline gain forecast by LSEG economists.
Other parts of the report also pointed to stubborn price pressures within the economy. Core inflation, which exclude the more volatile measurements of food and energy, climbed 0.4%, as it did in January and February, for an annual gain of 3.8%. Those figures are also higher than estimates.

“This marks the third consecutive strong reading and means that the stalled disinflationary narrative can no longer be called a blip,” said Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management.
High inflation has created severe financial pressures for most U.S. households, which are forced to pay more for everyday necessities like food and rent. The burden is disproportionately borne by low-income Americans, whose already-stretched paychecks are heavily affected by price fluctuations.

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MacDailyNews Take: The Fed stopped raising rates too soon.
As we wrote in February 2023, “When certain quarters, including the Fed, delude themselves and others that ‘inflation is transitory’ and waste at least a year before doing a mere portion of what is necessary* (interest rate hikes), the price will be paid for being delusional and late.”
‘Tis best to get a handle on inflation, if you know how, while you still can. – MacDailyNews, May 11, 2021
Stop the misguided crusade against domestic energy production and profligate federal spending and inflation will be stopped dead in its tracks. It’s not difficult. – MacDailyNews, May 11, 2022
For new generations, sometimes tough lessons have to be retaught and learned the hard way. As we go through this, remember: It’s always darkest before the dawn. – MacDailyNews, July 14, 2022
Inflation is repudiation. — Calvin Coolidge
When a business or an individual spends more than it makes, it goes bankrupt. When government does it, it sends you the bill… [which] comes in two ways: higher taxes and inflation. Make no mistake about it, inflation is a tax and not by accident. — Ronald Reagan
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