Key U.S. inflation measure rises to near 40-year high

The U.S. Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge to track inflation climbed 4.9% in April from the previous year, close to the highest level since 1983.

Megan Henney for FOXBusiness:

A key measure of annual inflation that is closely watched by the Federal Reserve continued to run hot in April… The personal consumption expenditures price index, which measures costs that consumers pay for a variety of different items, showed that core prices – which exclude the more volatile measurements of food and energy – soared 4.9% in the year through April, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
That measurement is the Fed’s preferred gauge to track inflation; it marks the 13th consecutive month the gauge has been above the central bank’s target range of 2%. Still, it was slightly below March’s measurement of 5.2%, and is down from the 39-year high of 5.3% that was recorded in February.
n the one-month period between March and April, core prices soared 0.3%, suggesting that prices are leveling off, but are not yet falling. The slowdown in inflation in April largely stemmed from a drop in the price of gasoline and other energy sources. Gas prices soared in March as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, then cooled off slightly in April. Prices have since returned to the highest level on record.
Including food and energy, the inflation gauge jumped 6.3% in April from the previous year, holding steady near last month’s measurement of 6.6%, which was the fastest pace since 1981… The data is further evidence of a spike in prices illustrated by a separate measure – the consumer price index – which showed inflation rose by 8.3% in April from the previous year, which is also near a 40-year high.

MacDailyNews Take: Some records are better left unbroken.
In good news for Apple investors, AAPL shares are up 3.68% (+$5.29) to $149.07 in late session trading.
‘Tis best to get a handle on inflation, if you know how, while you still can. – MacDailyNews, May 11, 2021
Earlier this year, Interactive Brokers founder Thomas Peterffy said, “Inflation is 7% — 1% or 2% [in interest rate hikes] doesn’t mean anything. If they really wanted to stop inflation, they would have to raise rates to 4%, 5%, 6%.”
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. And when government does it for 40 years, the bill 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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