U.S. April Consumer Prices +0.8%; Consensus +0.2% -- Update
May 12 2021 - 9:12AM
Dow Jones News
By Gwynn Guilford
U.S. consumer prices surged in April as the economic recovery
picked up, reflecting surging demand as the pandemic eased and
higher prices due to supply bottlenecks.
The Labor Department reported its consumer-price index jumped
4.2% in April from a year earlier, up from 2.6% for the year ended
in March. That is the highest 12-month level since the summer of
2008. Consumer prices increased a seasonally adjusted 0.8% in April
from March. The index measures what consumers pay for goods and
services, including clothes, groceries, restaurant meals,
recreational activities and vehicles.
Higher prices for used autos surged 10% in April compared with
the prior month--the largest monthly increase on record. That
accounted for more than a third of the increase, the Labor
Department said.
Write to Gwynn Guilford at gwynn.guilford@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 12, 2021 08:57 ET (12:57 GMT)
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