Here Comes The Consumer Price Index...
Economists expect the headline number to rise 0.3% month-over month. Excluding food and energy, they're looking for a 0.2% increase.
Year-over-year, both measures are expected to increase by 1.6%.
"We are anticipating a +0.3% increase in the headline and +0.2% increase in the core, but a +0.3% rise in the core is possible if there is some retracement of medical care prices which have shown record weakness over the past couple of months," said Deutsche Bank's Joe LaVorgna and Carl Riccadonna.
"In general, we do not believe there is much disinflation in the economy. Core service inflation is running at 2.3%, which is just off of its recent peak of 2.6% in February. The downward pressure on core inflation is stemming from core goods prices, which have declined for two consecutive months (-0.2% year-on-year, as last reported). Core goods prices are heavily influenced by import prices, and the latter has been depressed by a stronger trade-weighted dollar. Services outweigh goods by a ratio of nearly 3 to 1 in the core CPI, so we think the impact from import prices will ultimately be overcome by service inflation stemming from rents, medical care, education, etc. Presently, the core CPI is running at +1.7%, but it should move back toward 2% by year end."