U.S. Inflation Eases Monthly but Annual Rate Rises to 3.8% as Shelter and Gasoline Push Prices Up

U.S. consumer prices rose 0.6% in April from March, while the annual inflation rate accelerated to 3.8%, showing that price pressures remained elevated and extended beyond a single jump in gasoline costs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said Tuesday that gasoline and shelter were the main drivers of the monthly increase in the Consumer Price Index, a closely watched measure of living costs.

Excluding food and energy, so-called core CPI rose 0.4% in April on a seasonally adjusted basis. Over the past 12 months, core prices were up 2.8%, lower than the overall inflation rate but still indicating broad underlying price growth.

“The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in April, after rising 0.9 percent in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today,” the agency said in its monthly news release.

Energy prices rose 3.8% in April and accounted for more than 40% of the monthly increase in the all-items index, according to BLS. Within that category, gasoline prices climbed 5.4%. Shelter, which includes rents and housing-related costs, increased 0.6% in the month. Food prices also moved higher, rising 0.5%, including a 0.7% increase in food at home and a 0.2% rise in food away from home.

April’s report showed some cooling from March on a month-to-month basis, but a firmer trend in annual terms. In March 2026, CPI rose 0.9% from the previous month and 3.3% from a year earlier. That means the monthly pace slowed in April, while the 12-month rate moved higher to 3.8%.

Shelter deserves particular attention because it is the largest component of the CPI basket, making up about 35.3% of the overall index. That gives housing costs outsized influence over the inflation reading. Within shelter, owners’ equivalent rent — a measure of what homeowners would pay to rent a similar home — rose 0.5% in April, while rent of primary residence also increased 0.5%.

That mix mattered in April. March’s inflation jump was heavily tied to gasoline, but April combined another sizable gain in gasoline with a notable increase in shelter, a much larger and typically steadier category. The result was an inflation report that pointed to persistent cost pressures in areas that affect household budgets broadly, not just at the pump.

Over the past 12 months, shelter prices rose 3.3% and food prices increased 3.2%. Energy prices were up 17.9% from a year earlier, including a 28.4% jump in gasoline. Those figures underscore how uneven inflation remains across major household expenses, with housing still steadily climbing and energy costs posting the sharpest annual increases.