Anyone looking for concrete signs that inflation is slowing down probably will be disappointed by data released this week. Stubbornly higher prices across multiple key categories of goods and services are expected to at least keep the inflation rate steady — and possibly even push levels up. That in turn would keep the heat on the Federal Reserve to maintain a higher-for-longer monetary policy, even if that doesn't necessarily translate into interest rate increases over the near term.
Energy prices also nudged higher during the month, and Clark said she also will be watching items such as recreation, education and travel — considered components of "sticky" prices that don't fluctuate a lot — as inflation drivers. To be sure, though the April data is likely to provide only scant comfort, most economists think the inflation numbers will soften through the remainder of the year. One factor will simply be "base" effects.