WASHINGTON — Consumer inflation remained persistently high last month, boosted by gas, rents, auto insurance and other items, the government said Wednesday in a report that will likely give pause to the Federal Reserve as it weighs when and by how much to cut interest rates this year.
The figures will likely disappoint the White House as well, with Republican critics of President Joe Biden who have sought to pin the blame for high prices on the president and use it as a cudgel to derail his re-election bid.
Overall consumer prices rose 0.4% from February to March, the same as in the previous month. Compared with 12 months earlier, prices rose 3.5%, up from a year-over-year figure of 3.2% in February. The inflation surge that followed the pandemic jacked up the costs of food, gas, rent and many other items. Though inflation has since plummeted from its peak of 9.1% in June 2022, average prices are still well above where they were before the pandemic.