Inflation rose 4.9% in April from a year ago, less than expectations

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5. Graphs. Links. Rolling 3 month averages

Last edited Wed May 10, 2023, 02:42 PM - Edit history (2)

CPI: . . . . April: +0.4% (March: +0.1%), 12 months: +4.9%
CORE CPI: April: +0.4% (March: +0.4%), 12 months: +5.5%

SOME 12 month changes: Energy: -5.1%, Food: +7.7%,

Rolling 3 month averages thru April, latest 6 values (annualized)
CPI: . . . . 4.5% 3.3% 3.5% 4.1% 3.8% 3.2%
Core CPI: 5.0% 4.3% 4.6% 5.2% 5.1% 5.1%

BLS's Monthly CPI report: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm

Some excerpts:

The index for shelter was the largest contributor to the monthly all items increase, followed by increases in the index for used cars and trucks and the index for gasoline. The increase in the gasoline index more than offset declines in other energy component indexes, and the energy index rose 0.6 percent in April.

The food index was unchanged in April, as it was in March. The index for food at home fell 0.2 percent over the month while the index for food away from home rose 0.4 percent

CPI Index: https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CUSR0000SA0
CPI Monthly changes: https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CUSR0000SA0?output_view=pct_1mth

Core CPI Index: http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CUSR0000SA0L1E
Core CPI Monthly Changes: http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CUSR0000SA0L1E&output_view=pct_1mth

To view 3 month changes, 6 month changes, year-over-year changes of data.bls.gov time series, click on "More Formatting Options" on the upper right, and check the appropriate checkboxes.

Real average hourly earnings of production and non-supervisory workers http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CES0500000032

Real average hourly earnings of private sector workers http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CES0500000013

A more reliable gauge of wages and salaries:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143067288#post4

So real wages and salaries have finally turned up in the last 2 quarters.

The last reading is 3.7% below the peak, and 3.4% below the Q1.2021 value.

Source: https://fredblog.stlouisfed.org/2018/02/are-wages-increasing-or-decreasing

Unfortunately the Employment Cost Index comes out only once a quarter. So we will have to wait until July to get the next quarterly report.