Asked what he did for fun around a year ago, Jay Powell quipped "For me, a big, big party—and I mean this is as fun as it gets—is a really good inflation report." The March CPI report was all of that, but it will matter less than usual because it comes ahead of tariffs that could push up prices of imported goods. What the inflation report does show is that the economy was more or less sticking the soft landing through early 2025. If you had told policy makers two years ago that the CPI would be down to 2.4% (core CPI at 2.8%) with unemployment at 4.1%, officials would have given their left arm for that outcome. https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/stock-market-trump-tariffs-trade-war-04-10-25/card/why-the-cool-inflation-report-will-matter-less-to-the-fed-3As7PMArzs9IwBHM3e7r?mod=WSJ_home_supertoppermiddle_lctimeline