Households in the United States (EU) continued to spend in April, when inflation eased, a good news for consumers and also for the popularity of President Joe Biden.
The sharp rise in prices that has been eroding the purchasing power of North Americans for months moderated in April, according to the inflation index preferred by the Federal Reserve, PCEposted yesterday.
Inflation in the last 12 months through April was 6.3%, down from 6.6% in March, according to the Commerce Department index. In the month-to-month measurement, prices increased a modest 0.2% between March and April, compared to 0.9% between February and March.
It’s good news for consumers, who saw their income rise 0.4% last month compared to March, and spent 0.9% morea figure that –although positive– represents a smaller increase than that registered in the third month of the year.
The data shows that “consumers are resilient, for now,” he summarized Rubeela Farooqi of High Frequency Economics.
Biden hailed a “sign of progress.” Likewise, “we still have a lot of work to do” on what he defines as the “economic priority” of his government.
The president blames the Russian invasion of Ukraine for inflation, which he described again this Friday as “(Vladimir) Putin’s price hike”, the Russian president.
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Expenditures in an inflationary context
Consumers increased their spending on services, to eat out for example, while their rents rose. They also bought more cars and parts.
The amount
0.2% is the percentage that prices increased between March and April.
