{"id":128,"date":"2025-04-10T13:20:16","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T13:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.soapandseife.com\/?p=128"},"modified":"2025-04-12T23:26:32","modified_gmt":"2025-04-12T23:26:32","slug":"inflation-fell-last-month-as-gas-prices-dropped-sharply-a-sign-prices-cooled-before-tariffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.soapandseife.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/10\/inflation-fell-last-month-as-gas-prices-dropped-sharply-a-sign-prices-cooled-before-tariffs\/","title":{"rendered":"Inflation fell last month as gas prices dropped sharply, a sign prices cooled before tariffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, AP Economics Writer<\/strong><\/p>\n

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 U.S. inflation declined last month as the cost of gas, airline fares, and hotel rooms fell, a sign that price growth was cooling even as President Donald Trump ramped up his\u00a0tariff threats<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Consumer prices rose just 2.4% in March from a year earlier, the\u00a0Labor Department said<\/a>\u00a0Thursday, down from 2.8% in February. That is the lowest inflation figure since September.<\/p>\n

Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose 2.8% compared with a year ago, down from 3.1% in February. That is the smallest increase in core prices in nearly four years. Economists closely watch core prices because they are considered a better guide to where inflation is headed.<\/p>\n

Yet economists warned that the data is mostly backward-looking and likely to be overtaken by the impact of the tariffs that Trump has left in place, including\u00a0huge duties on China<\/a>, even after the\u00a090-day pause of some tariffs<\/a>\u00a0announced Wednesday. Inflation should start to pick up in two to three months’ time and possibly remain elevated through at least the end of this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got a huge tariff increase,\u201d said Paul Donovan, chief economist for UBS Wealth Management. \u201cThere was an extreme tariff increase for less than 24 hours, and we\u2019re back to a huge tariff increase, relative to where we were a month ago. This is increasing taxes on U.S. consumers. And they\u2019re going to have to find the money to pay these taxes.”<\/p>\n

On a monthly basis, prices actually fell 0.1% in March, the first monthly drop in nearly five years. Core prices rose just 0.1% in March from February.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was nice, but don’t get used to it,\u201d said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate. “All this is looking in the rearview mirror. With both inflation and the overall economy, uncertainty abounds about what might be lurking around the bend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Used car prices dropped 0.7% from February to March, the government said. The cost of auto insurance fell 0.8%, welcome relief for car owners, though insurance costs are still up 7.5% compared with a year ago.<\/p>\n

One reason prices fell was sharp drops in travel-related costs, including air fares, which slipped 5.3% just from February to March. Hotel room prices dropped 3.5%. Economists said those drops in part reflected much slower international demand as the number of tourists visiting the United States has fallen sharply amid Trump’s aggressive trade policy.<\/p>\n

Visits to the United States from\u00a0overseas fell nearly<\/a>\u00a012% last month, according to government data.<\/p>\n

The cost of groceries, however, jumped 0.5% last month, the report showed, as egg prices leapt 5.9% to a new record average price of $6.23 a dozen. Clothing prices rose 0.4%, though they have increased little in the past year.<\/p>\n