CPI Declines in March for the First Monthly Decline Since January 2015

Published by Matt Fishman on April 10, 2020April 10, 2020

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) declined 0.4 percent in March, “the largest monthly decline since January 2015”.

CPI is “based on prices of food, clothing, shelter, fuels, transportation,
doctors’ and dentists’ services, drugs, and other goods and services”, and is the main measuring tool for inflation. This month’s decline reveals the United State’s largest deflationary period in five years.

March’s negative reading was led by gasoline prices decreasing 10.5 percent, while the energy index on a whole fell 5.8 percent. Gasoline prices are expected to rise next month, as OPEC and the world’s oil producers have agreed to cut back on oil production.