The data covers the introduction of the new levies against most countries – including steep duties on China – which spooked financial markets and raised fears of a spike in prices.
Despite these fears, the consumer price index (CPI) eased to 2.3 percent in April from a year ago, a tick below the 2.4 percent figure recorded in March, the Labour Department said in a statement.
This was the smallest 12-month increase since February 2021 and was slightly lower than the median estimate from surveys of economists conducted by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
Inflation picked up to 0.2 percent from a month earlier – slightly below expectations – with “more than half” of the increase due to a 0.3 percent rise in shelter costs, according to the Labour Department.
Excluding volatile food and energy costs, inflation increased 0.2 percent from a month earlier, and by 2.8 percent over the past 12 months.
The monthly figure was slightly below expectations, while the annual figure was in line with forecasts. (AFP)
