Business

America’s annual inflation rate fell to 5% in March, the lowest it has been since May 2021. But the core inflation rate, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, rose to 5.6%. There was good news on energy prices. On a month-by-month basis the price of natural gas for consumers fell again, by 7.1%. Petrol dropped by over 4%. But with other data showing another solid monthly increase in the number of jobs created, markets are expecting the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point again when it meets in early May.