Here’s the inflation breakdown for March 2024 — in one chart

The BLS said that motor vehicle insurance, medical care, recreation and personal care, in addition to shelter, were “notable” contributors to “core” inflation, a reading that strips out volatile energy and food prices.

Shelter, motor vehicle insurance, medical care, apparel and personal care were notable contributors to monthly inflation from February to March, the agency said.

The overall monthly CPI reading, 0.4%, was much higher than the roughly 0.2% that would be expected on a consistent basis to bring inflation back to normal, economists said.

“There is no improvement here; we’re moving in the wrong direction,” Hamrick said.

“The usual trouble spots persist,” said Hamrick, who additionally called out costs for electricity and car maintenance and repairs.

Meanwhile, some consumer categories have seen improvement.

Prices fell for used cars and trucks, new vehicles and airline tickets between February and March, for example. They’re also down over the past year, by 2.2%, 0.1% and 7.1%, respectively, according to CPI data.

Lower prices for new and used cars should lead auto insurance and repair costs to fall as well, economists said.

Grocery prices are another bright spot, they said.

While some categories, such as eggs and pork chops, have seen recent upward movement, the overall “food at home” index stood at 0% on a monthly basis in both February and March.

“Food prices have come to a standstill,” Zandi said. “For most Americans, the thing that bothers them the most about inflation is high food prices.”

At a high level, supply-and-demand imbalances are what trigger out-of-whack inflation.

For example, the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted supply chains for goods. Americans’ buying patterns also simultaneously shifted away from services — such as entertainment and travel — toward physical goods since they stayed at home more, driving up demand and fueling decades-high goods inflation.

Additionally, supply-and-demand dynamics in the labor market pushed wage growth to the highest level in decades, putting upward pressure on prices for services, which are more wage-sensitive.

Now that supply-chain issues are “pretty close to fixed,” there’s “little scope” for goods to contribute to disinflation moving forward, said Sarah House, senior economist at Wells Fargo Economics.

“You need services to take the mantle of disinflation,” because goods have “petered out,” she added.

Housing falls into the services category. It accounts for the largest share of the consumer price index, so disinflation in this category would likely have a large impact on inflation readings.

So far, housing inflation has remained stubbornly high — even as economists have predicted it would start moderating any day given broadly positive trends in prices for new tenant rental leases, for example.

“It seems to be taking a bit longer than people thought,” said Andrew Hunter, deputy chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics.

“It’s coming,” he said. “It’s just a matter of when.”