Breitbart Business Digest: The April Inflation Report Was Even Worse Than It LookedJohn Carney 12 May 2026
That Was a Very Bad Inflation Report
We better hope that April showers bring May flowers because last month we got drenched in inflation—and we could use a bloom of good news as we head into the summer months.
Tuesday’s consumer price index (CPI) report was bad enough on the surface. Prices rose 0.6 percent in April, following March’s blistering 0.9 percent increase. Compared with a year ago, consumer prices were up 3.8 percent, a sharp acceleration from the 3.3 percent annual pace recorded in March.
The usual excuses were available. Energy prices did a lot of the damage. The energy index rose 3.8 percent in April and accounted for more than 40 percent of the overall increase. Gasoline prices climbed 5.4 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis and were up 28.4 percent from a year earlier. Food prices were also firm, rising 0.5 percent for the month, with grocery prices up 0.7 percent.
That would have been bad enough. But the trouble did not stop at the pump or the grocery aisle.
April’s Inflation Was Broad-Based, and Trend Inflation Was Strong
Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.4 percent in April after increasing just 0.2 percent in each of the prior two months. The 12-month core inflation rate rose to 2.8 percent from 2.6 percent. Shelter, the largest component of the index, jumped 0.6 percent. Both rent and owners’ equivalent rent rose 0.5 percent.
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https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/05/12/breitbart-business-digest-the-april-inflation-report-was-worse-even-than-it-looked/
