U.S. inflationary pressures were slightly higher in April than in March, as the future inflation gauge rose to 78.2 from a downwardly revised 77.9 in March, originally reported as 79.3, according to data released Friday by the Economic Cycle Research Institute.
The smoothed annualized growth rate, a comparison of the latest figures to the preceding year’s average level, narrowed to negative 33.7% from negative 38.0%.
The April increase was driven by “inflationary moves in measures of vendor performance, loans, commodity prices and labor market conditions, partly offset by a disinflationary move in a measure of interest rates,” ECRI said.
“The USFIG is still near March’s 51-year low, affirming that inflation is far from being a near-term concern,” ECRI said in a release.
