With energy prices showing a substantial decrease, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing that U.S. consumer prices fell by slightly more than expected in the month of April.
The Labor Department said its consumer price index fell by 0.4 percent in April following a 0.2 percent drop in March. Economists had expected prices to decrease by about 0.3 percent.
The drop in consumer prices in April was primarily due to a 4.3 percent decrease in energy prices, which came on the heels of a 2.6 percent drop in March.
Gasoline prices tumbled by 8.1 percent in April, while the index for fuel oil fell by 4.4 percent. The decreases more than offset a 4.4 percent increase in prices for natural gas.
The report also showed that food prices rose by 0.2 percent in April after coming in unchanged in the previous month.
Excluding food and energy prices, the core consumer price index edged up by 0.1 percent in April, matching the increase seen in the previous month. Core prices had been expected to rise by 0.2 percent.
The Labor Department said higher prices for shelter, used cars and trucks, new vehicles, and tobacco were partly offset by lower prices for apparel, airline fares, and recreation.
Compared to the same month a year ago, the headline consumer price index was up by 1.1 percent in April, reflecting the slowest pace of growth since November of 2010.
The report said core consumer prices increased at an annual rate of 1.7 percent in April, down from 1.9 percent in March and further below the Federal Reserve's target of 2 percent. The pace of growth is the slowest since June of 2011.
Paul Dales, Senior U.S. Economist at Capital Economics, said, "Subdued demand means that core inflation is likely to edge lower, as retailers will be forced to pass previous falls in raw material costs onto customers."
"With the alternative PCE measure of core inflation having already dropped to 1.1%, the Fed may soon put more emphasis on fading inflation trends," he added.
The Labor Department released a separate report on Wednesday showing that producer prices fell by 0.7 percent in April following a 0.6 percent decrease in March.
The report said core producer prices edged up by 0.1 percent in April after rising by 0.2 percent in each of the four previous months.
Producer prices were up by 0.6 percent year-over-year, reflecting the slowest annual rate of growth since July of 2012. Core producer prices were up 1.7 percent compared to the same month a year ago.
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Forex News
May 22, 2026 14:46 ET Minutes of the latest Fed policy session was the highlight of the week along with survey data on the U.S. housing market. In Europe, survey data signaled the trends in the euro area private sector. Further, consumer price inflation data from the U.K. was in focus. In Asia, various economic indicators from China drew attention to the health of the economy.