US consumer inflation significantly eases to 4% in May, lowest in 2 years

Annual consumer inflation in the US came in at 4% in May, marking the lowest level in more than two years and significantly easing from 4.9% in April, according to official figures released on Tuesday.

The consumer price index (CPI), which measures changes in the prices of goods and services from a consumer's perspective, also came below the market estimate of 4.1%.

The figure was the smallest 12-month increase since the period ending March 2021, and marked a sharp decline from last June's 9.1% yearly gain – the largest since November 1981.

On a monthly basis, CPI rose 0.1% in May from the previous month, also coming lower than the market expectation of 0.2%. The figure for April was unrevised at 0.4%.

"The food index increased 0.2 percent in May after being unchanged in the previous 2 months," the Labor Department said in a statement.? "The energy index, in contrast, declined 3.6 percent in May as the major energy component indexes fell."

Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, gained 0.4% in May from the previous month, coming in line with the market estimate, while the April reading was unrevised at 0.4%.

Annually, core CPI rose 5.3% in May, also in line with the market expectation, after it rose 5.5% in April year-on-year.

"The energy index decreased 11.7 percent for the 12 months ending May, and the food index increased 6.7 percent over the last year," said the statement.

'CONTINUED PROGRESS'

President Joe Biden said the recent CPI figures show "continued progress tackling inflation," while the unemployment rate remains at historic lows.

American economy added 339,000 jobs in May, but the unemployment rate rose unexpectedly to 3.7%, up from 3.4% in April, according to the Labor Department.

"After gas and grocery prices increased rapidly last year due to the war in Ukraine, inflation has fallen for 11 months in a row," Biden said in a statement released by the White House.

"We have taken action to bring down the cost of gas at the pump, prescription drugs, and health insurance premiums. At the same time, the unemployment rate has remained below 4 percent for the longest stretch in more than 50 years, helping to support wage gains over the last year, even after accounting for inflation," he added.

The president noted that private sector companies have invested over $470 billion in US manufacturing sector, adding: "America is seizing leadership in the industries that will be critical to our economic security for decades, like semiconductors and clean energy."