The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its Consumer Price Index Summary for May. Seasonally adjusted changes from the previous month show that May had a 0.0 inflation rate, down from April which was 0.3%. Gasoline made the biggest strides in price changes, down 3.6% after increasing 2.8% in April.
April showed that gasoline was the biggest reason inflation was increasing month-over-month, while utilities for electricity and natural gas prices dropped last month. However, this month, gasoline is dragging the inflation number down, as other expenses such as medical services (+0.3), medical care commodities (+1.3%), and food (+0.1) all have increased slightly.
Many have quickly reported a huge “fall” in inflation, and while inflation was down in May, consumers need to continue to be cautious of these reports. With gasoline prices essentially driving the overall rate of inflation, prices are still uneven, and we await June’s report to see consistency with the strength of the economy.
The Federal Reserve closes a meeting on Wednesday, and until then, we await to see if interest rates will be changed. Many have speculated that interest rates will remain the same, but there is hope with May’s inflation report inflation prices may decrease. While a single month’s zero change in inflation is unlikely to move the overall mindset of the Federal Reserve, many hope to see improvement in interest rates.
Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average opened to an increase on Wednesday morning, moving from $38,722 to $39,039 and the S&P 500 increased from $5,375 to $5,426. We are likely going to see major impacts on the market with the release of the Federal Reserve’s interest report.
Until then, check out the full Consumer Price Index Summary here, with the corresponding chart below.
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