WSJ: Consumer prices rose 2.3% in April from year ago, lowest annual inflation since 2021

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Annual inflation cooled in April, a month when businesses were yanked back and forth as they tried to adjust to President Trump’s unpredictable trade policies.

However, prices rose 0.2% from the previous month, matching forecasts of economists polled by The Wall Street Journal. In March, month-over-month prices had fallen 0.1%.

Consumer prices were up 2.3% in April from a year earlier, the Labor Department reported Tuesday, cooler than March’s gain of 2.4%.

That was below the 2.4% that economists had expected.

Prices excluding food and energy categories—the so-called core measure that economists watch in an effort to better capture inflation’s underlying trend—rose 2.8%. That matched forecasts by economists.

The 2.3% rate of annual inflation was the lowest rate since February 2021, right before supply-chain snarls and pent-up consumer demand sent inflation soaring.

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The Federal Reserve is struggling to bring inflation down to its target. The central bank held interest rates steady last week, citing concerns that the tariffs could lead to higher unemployment and inflation.

The quick-changing nature of current tariff policy could also make it hard for the Fed to cut rates. Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack said last week that the uncertainty over potential changes in trade and fiscal policy could extend the amount of time the central bank stays in its current wait-and-see stance on interest rates.

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