Inflation bounced back in April, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday morning, after slowing throughout the winter and early spring.
Prices rose 0.4 percent in the month, according to the Bureau’s Consumer Price Index, the biggest monthly gain since early 2013, adjusted for seasonal variations.
The month-to-month increase was enough to push annual inflation up to 1.1 percent for the year through April, up from 0.9 percent the month before.
Driving the acceleration was the biggest increase in energy prices since 2013, a boost of 3.4 percent, led by an 8 percent jump in gas prices.
In addition to energy, prices rose across most categories.
“Core” inflation, the less-volatile gauge of inflation that strips out energy and food prices, inched down to 2.1 percent annually, after dropping to 2.2 percent the month before.
Tuesday’s news is a sign that inflation is picking up in the way that the Federal Reserve has hoped it would, as international trade currents that have been pushing down on U.S. prices recede, especially the effects of the stronger dollar and weaker commodity prices.
The Fed has an inflation target that translates to roughly 2.3 percent in the Consumer Price Index.
At a March press conference, Fed chairwoman Janet Yellen suggested that core inflation might dip throughout the spring, only to resume its upward trend later in the year as the economy improved and came closer to full health. Tuesday’s release is an indication that the scenario Yellen sketched out is coming to pass.
A key factor would be energy prices bottoming out. Energy prices have risen for two straight months now, after dropping precipitously since the summer of 2014. Nevertheless, the energy index is still down 9 percent from a year earlier.
