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The consumer price index (CPI) in the United States rose 0.8% in April, bringing year-on-year inflation to 4.2%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BEA) reported today, following President Joe Biden’s economic measures.
April’s year-over-year figure is the highest recorded in the U.S. since 2008.
Excluding food and fuel prices, which are the most volatile, core inflation last month was 0.9%, and 3% over the past 12 months.
The larger-than-expected rebound in prices in April adds pressure to the U.S. Federal Reserve (FED), which has rejected inflationary pressures in the country due to the radical fiscal stimulus deployed and the increase in demand as restrictions are lifted due to the improvement of the pandemic in the country.
The president of the FED, Jerome Powell, has recognized that notable price increases will be seen, but that according to him they will be of a “transitory” nature, for which reason he has insisted that he does not foresee changing the central bank’s interest rates, currently between 0% and 0.25% for the remainder of the year.
The central bank has also indicated that there is still room in the labor market, as the country has 8 million fewer jobs than with the arrival of the covid-19 pandemic in February 2020. However, job creation has also been slowed due to the intentions of the Democratic government to drastically increase taxes.
