WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Inflation eased slightly in April after months of increases but remained near a four-decade high, according to numbers released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The data showed the price of all goods increased .3% in April. For the 12-month period ending in April, the price of goods increased 8.3%, which is down from a high of 8.5% set in March.
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Inflation has been at a 40-year high since December 2021 and many people are still feeling the pain of rising prices.
Economists are skeptical to think we may be seeing an easing of inflation.
"We saw a less substantive increase in the month of April, but a lot of that was because of a pretty sharp drop off in gas prices during the month of April," Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com, said. "But anybody who has filled the gas tank in the last 11 days knows gas prices have gone back up, so that's an outdated data point at this point."
Gas prices have jumped in just the last two weeks, still more than 40% higher than a year ago.
The Airline Fare Index also took a steep climb in April, increasing more than 18.5%. This was its largest one-month jump ever.
The cost of food was also up again for the 17th consecutive month. The price of meat, poultry, fish and eggs rose to almost 1.5%.
Experts say the primary causes of inflation are still there — namely the war in Ukraine and disruptions in the supply chain for the goods people need.