Pursuits
Consumer Prices Bear Out Yellen's Subdued Inflation Outlook
- Prices excluding food, fuel show smallest gain in seven months
- Biggest drop in clothing costs since 1998 restrains core index
Lockhart: Consumers Cast Doubt on Economic Forecast
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The pickup in consumer prices at the start of 2016 just about stalled out in March, supporting Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s view that the central bank should raise interest rates only gradually.
The core consumer-price index, which excludes food and fuel, increased 0.1 percent last month, the smallest gain since August, a Labor Department report showed Thursday in Washington. That followed 0.3 percent advances in January and February that had made it look like inflation was picking up much faster than Fed officials projected.