The U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 2.4% in March over the last 12 months, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Apr. 10.
In contrast, the CPI stood at 2.8% in February.
It means the CPI fell 0.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis in the previous month.
The energy index fell 2.4% and the food index rose 0.4% in March. The index for all items less food and energy — core CPI — rose 0.1% to 2.8% year-over-year (YoY) last month.
The latest inflation data is lower than the economists’ expectations of 2.6% CPI in March.
Meanwhile, the crypto market took a breath of relief on Apr. 9 as President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on most countries except China.
The total crypto market cap rose 4.4% over the last 24 hours to $2.67 trillion.
Bitcoin was trading at $81,579.11 at press time, as per Kraken’s price feeds. The king coin even hit above the mark of $83,000 for a while recently.
Ethereum has been able to tread above the $1,500 level, exchanging hands at $1,588.85 at press time.
Note that the Federal Reserve has set an inflation target of 2%. Though the latest inflation figure is softer, it relates to March, i.e. before Apr. 2, when Trump announced "reciprocal tariffs."
We expect March's Producer Price Index (PPI) report on Apr. 11. Besides, we will have to wait for the release of April CPI data on May 13 to know how the ongoing escalation of tariffs since Apr. 2 affected prices.
Only after factoring in these figures, the Fed will decide its interest rate policy.