The CPI was forecast to rise 2.6% last month, according to economists polled by financial data firm FactSet. The CPI, a basket of goods and services typically bought by consumers, tracks the change in those prices over time. March's report comes after inflation rose 2.8% on an annual basis in February. On a monthly basis, prices actually fell 0.1% in March, the first monthly drop in nearly five years. Inflation eased last month due partly to lower fuel prices, with gasoline tumbling 9.8% on an annual basis, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said.

Consumer prices fell 0.1% in March compared to the previous month, compared to a 0.2% gain recorded in February, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Thursday. The numbers mark the first time that prices have fallen on a monthly basis since May 2020, according to CNN. The bureau's all-items index rose 2.4% for the 12 months ending March, after rising 2.8% over the 12 months ending February, the bureau also reports. Experts projected the annual inflation rate for March would be 2.6%, according to CNBC.

Inflation cooled more than expected in March, a possible sign of renewed progress in reining in stubborn price growth. But even with President Donald Trump’s latest pullback on tariffs, economists expect the levies in effect to boost inflation levels in the coming months. The consumer price index climbed 2.4% year over year last month, according to data released Thursday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's a deceleration from February's 2.8% pace, and slower than economists' expectations for annual price growth of 2.6%, according to a FactSet survey.