U.S. Consumer Prices In March Unexpectedly Down

The Labor Department released a report on Thursday unexpectedly showing a slight decrease by consumer prices in the U.S. in the month of March.

The report said the consumer price index edged down by 0.1 percent in March after rising by 0.2 percent in February. Economists had expected consumer prices to inch up by 0.1 percent.

Excluding food and energy prices, the core consumer price index crept up by 0.1 in March after rising by 0.2 percent in February. Core prices were expected to rise by 0.3 percent.

The report also said the annual rate of consumer price growth slowed to 2.4 in March from 2.8 percent in February. Economists had expected the pace of price growth to slow to 2.6 percent.

The annual rate of core consumer price growth also fell to 2.8 percent in March from 3.1 percent in February. Core price growth was expected to dip to 3.0 percent.

A separate report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits crept slightly higher in the week ended April 5th.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims inched up to 223,000, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 219,000. The uptick by initial jobless claims came in line economist estimates.

Meanwhile, the report said the less volatile four-week moving average of initial jobless claims was 223,000, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised average of 223,000.

At 9:30 am ET, Dallas Federal Reserve President Lorie Logan is due to give welcome remarks before a hybrid Outlook for North American Trade and Immigration event hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

Kansas City Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Schmid is scheduled to speak on the economic outlook and monetary policy before the Secured Finance Network Independent Finance Roundtable 2025 at 10 am ET.

Also at 10 am ET, the Senate Banking Committee is due to hold a hearing on Federal Reserve Board Governor Michelle Bowman’s nomination to be Fed Vice Chairman for Supervision.

The Treasury Department is scheduled to announce the details of this month’s auction of twenty-year bonds at 11 am ET.

At 12 pm ET, Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee is due to participate in a moderated question-and-answer session before the Economic Club of New York.

Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Patrick Harker is also scheduled to speak before the 2025 Fintech and Financial Institutions Research Conference at 12 pm ET.

At 1 pm ET, the Treasury Department is due to announce the results of this month’s auction of $22 billion worth of thirty-year bonds.