U.S. consumer prices rise slightly in April

WASHINGTON, May 10 (Xinhua) -- U.S. consumer prices rose at a relatively stable pace, suggesting that the Federal Reserve might continue current gradual pace in tightening the monetary policy.

The consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.2 percent in April on a seasonally adjusted basis after falling 0.1 percent in March, said the Labor Department on Thursday.

On the year-on-year basis, CPI rose 2.5 percent, the biggest increase since February 2017. It was slightly higher than the 2.4 percent growth in March.

Excluding the volatile food and energy, the core CPI rose 0.1 percent in April, slower than the 0.2 percent growth in the previous month. The core CPI rose 2.1 percent over the year, the same pace in March.

Inflation in U.S. has been on the the rise since beginning of this year, paving way for the Fed to further tighten the monetary policy.

The price index for personal consumption expenditure (PCE), an inflation gauge preferred by the Fed, rose 2 percent from a year ago in March, the biggest increase since February 2017 and meeting the Fed's 2-percent inflation target.

Excluding the volatile food and energy prices, the core PCE price index rose 1.9 percent in March, also the largest increase since February 2017.

In its latest policy meeting in early May, the Fed expressed its confidence in inflation outlook, saying that "inflation on a 12-month basis is expected to run near the Committee's symmetric 2 percent objective over the medium term."

Market investors are expecting that the Fed would raise interest rates for the second time this year in their next policy meeting in June. In view of recent improved inflation data, investors also expected that the central bank might raise interest rates by a total of three to four times this year. Enditem