US inflation data beats expectations as Americans spend their Covid stimulus cheques
US inflation rose 2.6 per cent year-on-year in March, ahead of analyst expectations of a 2.5 per cent rise, as more of Washington’s fiscal stimulus filtered down into the real economy.
It’s a jump from the 1.7 per cent inflation rate measured last month.
The month-on-month rate in March was a 0.6 per cent jump increase in average prices, up from a 0.4 per cent increase in February.
Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the CPI rose 0.3 per cent. The so-called core CPI nudged up 0.1 per cent in February.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the overall CPI advancing 0.5 per cent and the core CPI climbing 0.2 per cent.