May Inflation Rate Was Lowest Since 2021
By Jason Hall
June 13, 2023
The U.S. inflation rate for May 2023 was reported to be at its lowest level since March 2021, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced Tuesday (June 13) via NBC News.
The annual price growth dropped to 4% from May 2022, while only increasing by 0.1% since April 2023. Economists had predicted a rate of 4.1% for May after a 4.9% rate in April.
The data provides examples that the rate of inflation, as well as the high prices that come from it, may finally be slowing down. Gasoline prices have steadily fallen in recent months after significant increases that stemmed from Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year. The inflation rate in the U.S. peaked at a 40-year high of more than 9% in 2022 and analysts are now debating the rate at which it will continue to decrease.
Economists at Citibank said workers' pay increases are still at about 6% dating back to March 2022, a pace they described as "consistent with underlying price inflation stably around 4.5% to 5%" in a note to clients on Monday (June 12). Grocery stores are seeing a rapid growth in sales with a reported 8.2% increase in food ordered online since May 2022, according to data from the Adobe Digital Price Index, which is a separate measurement unrelated to the U.S. Labor Department data, NBC News reports.