Inflation likely remained elevated once again for the month of March, adding another round of price increases to Americans’ already-strained wallets. On paper, the U.S. economy looks solid. The unemployment rate has now remained below 4% for the longest stretch since the 1960s. Stocks are at all-time highs. The economy continues to add jobs. But since the start of the pandemic, Americans have seen average prices increase more than 20% overall — giving people a sense that the cost of many goods and services, not to mention housing, has surged to unreasonable levels. On Wednesday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will report inflation readings for March. The consensus forecast is 3.5%, up from 3.2% in February. Excluding food and energy, which represent commodities with more volatile prices, the so-called core reading is expected to have declined slightly, from 3.8% to 3.7%. So what will cause price growth to finally slow down…
