KTAR News – Phoenix inflation at lowest level in 18 months, but still outpacing US rate
The annual inflation rate in metro Phoenix slowed to its lowest level in 18 months, but local inflation remains far ahead of the national rate, according to a federal report released Tuesday.
Valley consumer prices increased by 7.4% from April 2022 to April 2023, the smallest annual rise since a 7.1% rate in October 2021, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
The national annual inflation rate, meanwhile, was 4% for May, the lowest 12-month figure in over two years.
“We’re finally seeing some relief on the inflation front,” Jim Rounds of Tempe-based Rounds Consulting Group told KTAR News 92.3 FM.
“Consumer prices — the prices that we pay as consumers when we go out and we purchase things — are only growing at about 4% now. That’s about half of what people were predicting.”
