The April consumer price index data is benign despite a higher-than-expected print on core inflation.
Overall April CPI printed flat, but core posted up 0.3%. Core was a lower plus-0.2532% unrounded and about 40% of the core gain was due to a 9.3% rise in tobacco, reflecting a higher federal excise tax on cigarettes. Without tobacco, core would have been under a 0.2% increase.
— Market News International