News brief

U.S. inflation dips. Led by lower food and auto prices, inflation in the United States cooled slightly last month after three elevated readings, likely offering a tentative sigh of relief for officials at the Federal Reserve as well as President Joe Biden’s re-election team. Consumer prices rose 0.3% from March to April, down slightly from 0.4% the previous month. Measured year-over-year, inflation ticked down from 3.5% to 3.4%. And a measure of underlying inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, fell to the lowest level in three years. Inflation had been unexpectedly high in the first three months of this year.

Gains in real wages often happen during relatively rare bursts. For a while, it looked like one of those accelerations in worker buying power was underway after the pandemic. But an uptick in inflation threatens it.