Here’s the inflation breakdown for March 2023 — in one chart

Published

3 years ago

April 12, 2023

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Inflation continued to retreat in March as energy prices pulled back from a year ago, when they began to spike due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

But swings in gasoline and other energy mask price pressures that, while easing, remain under the surface, economists said.

“It’s improving and the economy is cooling, but it’s still far from tepid,” Diane Swonk, chief economist at KPMG, said of inflation.

The consumer price index, a key gauge of inflation, rose by 5% in March relative to 12 months earlier, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said Wednesday.

The index measures price changes across a broad basket of consumer goods and services, like food, housing, electronics and recreation.

The latest annual reading declined from 6% in February. The reduction doesn’t mean prices fell; they’re still rising, just more slowly than a year ago.

A little bit of inflation is good — policymakers aim for about 2% a year, according to a different but related measure.

While still “painfully high,” inflation has eased significantly from its peak of more than 9% in June 2022, said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics. Inflation seems poised to fall back to policymakers’ target by this time next year, barring any unforeseen derailments, he said.

“Inflation is fundamentally moderating,” Zandi said. “And all the trend lines look good.

“I can say that with increasing confidence.”

What drove inflation in March 2023

Housing was a “notable” inflation driver in March and over the past year, according to the BLS.

The shelter index increased 8.2% in the last year, accounting for over 60% of the total increase in consumer prices after stripping out the volatile energy and food categories. Other notable annual increases include motor vehicle insurance (15%), household furnishings and operations (5.6%), recreation (4.8%) and new vehicles (6.1%), the bureau said.

“There are a lot of categories that continue to see outsized increases month after month,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate. “And [some of] those are categories that are staples in the household budget.”

“We’ve got to see improvement in terms of moderating price pressures across a broad range of categories,” he added.

The overall energy index is down 6.4% in the past year.

Average U.S. gasoline prices topped out over $5 a gallon in June 2022, following a surge in oil prices after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The price increase for both regular motor gasoline and diesel fuel from February to March 2022 was the largest monthly gain on record, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

It’s improving and the economy is cooling, but it’s still far from tepid.

Diane Swonk

chief economist at KPMG

To compare, average pump prices were about $3.54 a gallon this March, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. They’ve risen in recent weeks after a bloc of major oil-producing nations announced output cuts.

Housing accounts for the largest share of average household expenses. Elevated inflation in housing has therefore served to prop up CPI readings.

There’s been a “huge” moderation in newly signed rent agreements, said Paul Ashworth, chief North America economist at Capital Economics. But price changes generally take nine months to a year to flow into CPI reports, due to how economists calculate price changes in the housing category, he said.

“The big uncertainty is: We know housing costs should start to moderate … soon [in the CPI], but none of us know exactly when,” Ashworth said.

The food at home index (i.e., grocery prices) fell 0.3% in March, its first monthly decline since September 2020. That’s due to a combination of things like lower prices for diesel, a key component in transporting food to stores, and easing supply-chain issues, Zandi said.

“It signals the food inflation fever has been broken,” Zandi said.

Why inflation popped up and remains high

Consumer prices began rising rapidly in early 2021 as the U.S. economy started to reopen after the pandemic-related shutdown. Americans unleashed a flurry of pent-up demand for dining out, entertainment and vacations, aided by savings amassed from government relief.

Meanwhile, the rapid economic restart snarled global supply chains, a dynamic exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In other words, supply couldn’t keep up with consumers’ willingness to spend.

Inflation was initially siloed in categories of physical goods like used cars and trucks. But the dynamic has morphed.

“The supply shortage was very much a 2021, 2022 story,” Ashworth said.

Richard Ross | The Image Bank | Getty Images

Now, inflation is more a story of “services,” which includes categories like haircuts, auto insurance, airline fares, medical care and rent, economists said.

That’s largely due to conditions in the job market, characterized by historic demand for workers, low unemployment and strong wage growth, economists said. Higher labor costs pressure businesses to raise their prices, especially in labor-intensive service industries, economists said. While the labor market remains hot, it has been gradually cooling.

The U.S. Federal Reserve has been raising interest rates aggressively to tame inflation. This mechanism aims to increase borrowing costs for consumers and businesses, who pare back spending, thereby cooling the economy and labor market and, ultimately, inflation.

Recent turmoil in the banking sector is expected to reduce banks’ willingness to make loans — and those tighter credit conditions are expected to further cool the economy and help tame inflation.

That credit tightening will likely help cool inflation in the second half of the year, Swonk said.

“It’s a slow squeeze,” she said.

Environment

Truckers are ready to embrace battery power TODAY – but it’s not what you think

Published

4 hours ago

October 13, 2025

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Truckers are ready to embrace battery power TODAY – but it's not what you think

Dragonfly Energy Collaborates with PACCAR on Whitepaper Addressing Lithium-Powered Solutions to Reduce Idling and Fuel Costs in Trucking

A new whitepaper by heavy truck makers PACCAR and Dragonfly Energy that incorporates real-world fleet trial data and Environmental Chamber Testing conducted at the PACCAR Technical Center seems to indicate that over-the-road truck drivers are ready to embrace battery power and reduce emissions – just not while they’re driving.

The whitepaper, titled Reducing Idle Time & Fuel Costs: Lithium Powered Solutions for Commercial Fleets, looked at different ways to reduce harmful diesel emissions across the duty cycles of a number of different fleet operations, and what they found was that powering a truck’s auxiliary and cabin systems with a high-voltage lithium-ion battery dramatically reduced engine idle time even under worst-case operating scenarios.

Another report by a group called the Clean Air Task Force showed that idling heavy-duty diesel engines while drivers are “hoteling” in their trucks (they’re parked, but running the engine to power the sleeper cab’s climate controls, kitchens, or electronics) exacts a heavy toll on both drivers and shipping fleets.

Idling not only burns fuel and increases operating costs at 0 MPG, it also emits a dangerous cocktail of harmul pollutants that pose direct health risks to drivers, rest stop employees, and nearby communities. Diesel exhaust contains fine particulate matter (PM), nitrogen oxides (NOₓ), and numerous airborne toxins that are known carcinogens, making them a serious problem even to those who think climate change is a global conspiracy from “Big Science” to keep those plucky young oil billionaires in the place.

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From a mechanical standpoint, extended idling also accelerates engine wear, degrades emission-control systems, increases maintenance, and shortens engine life.

Battle Born semi batteries

Battle Born batteries for semi aux systems; via Dragonfly Energy.

By adding a relatively high capacity hybrid battery (like Dragonfly Energy’s Battle Born brand batteries) to the something like a PACCAR Kenworth T680 (at top), drivers can stay parked for several hours, operating their sleepers’ refrigerators, ACs, or heaters without the noise and emissions and costs of diesel – and they probably sleep better too, without the drone of neighboring diesels cranking on around them all night.

“We believe idle reduction remains one of the most immediate and cost-effective ways fleets can reduce fuel consumption and emissions while improving driver comfort. But just as important, the industry is increasingly focused on operational efficiency and maximizing asset utilization,” explains Wade Seaburg, chief commercial officer at Dragonfly Energy. “We believe our collaboration with PACCAR not only validates the performance of our LiFePO₄-powered solutions, but also highlights how they help fleets maximize uptime, extend equipment life and get more out of their assets.”

The electrification of the auxiliary systems also reduces engine hours, stretching out the time between scheduled maintenance and reducing operational downtime.

In other words, the hybridization of OTR trucks is a win-win-win. The full whitepaper is available for download at BattleBornBatteries.com/Lithium-Powered-Idle-Reduction. Take a look at it yourself, then let us know what you think of the idea in the comments.

SOURCE | IMAGES: PACCAR, Dragonfly Energy; via AP Newswire.

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Environment

Renault says a desirable $20,000 EV is coming – and it’s NOT made in China

Published

4 hours ago

October 13, 2025

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Renault says a desirable ,000 EV is coming – and it's NOT made in China

Renault promises electric cars for less than 20,000 euros thanks to the batteries that Europe didn't want and that are a hit in China.

French car brand Renault believes they’ve got the key to more affordable EV batteries, and their new LFP tech promises to slash the costs of production by 40%. The result? New, desirable EVs with a sub-20K price tag that aren’t made in China.

Spanish news site Motorpasión is reporting that Renault, like Ford, is embracing a more affordable lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) battery chemistries that are safer, cheaper, and less dependent on rare mineral mining than conventional li-ion batteries.

That’s a big change from the recent past. Because they’re less energy dense and weigh a bit more than comparably-sized lithium-ion NMC (nickel-manganese-cobalt) batteries, European automakers looked down on LFPs. But with Chinese automakers like BYD, MG, and Leapmotor flooding Europe with affordable LFP-powered EVs, that stigma is fading fast.

Fun, affordable LFP vehicles

The stability, battery life, and cost advantages of LFP have become too compelling to ignore — especially as global lithium and nickel prices continue to fluctuate, making long-term business projections difficult. Renault’s decision to embrace LFPs then, is less about catching up on the Chinese’ technology than it is about catching up catching up on the Chinese’ economics, and acknowledging that affordability is the real barrier to mass adoption.

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That was the thinking behind Renault’s relaunch of the R5 E-TECH (sold as the Le Car in the US) and the announcement that a new Twingo would be coming soon.

It was also the thinking behind the French carmaker’s decision to launch the new Ampere vehicle software development sub-brand back in 2023. At the time, the stated goals were to improve (what are now called) Renault’s software-defined vehicles and, separately, to reduce manufacturing costs of new EVs by 40% – which, if you’ll notice, is just about what the switch to LFP chemistries will enable them to do.

“Creating a new model of company specializing in electric vehicles and software running as of today: How better to illustrate our revolution and the boldness of our teams?” asked Luca de Meo, Renault Group CEO, at Ampere’s launch. He answered his own question, saying, “Instill a sustainable corporate vision and ensure it is reflected in each and every process and product. Build on the Group’s strengths and review the way we do everything. Form a tight-knit team and work for the collective. Harness our French roots and become the leader in Europe. Assert our commitment to our customers, our planet and those living on it.”

Renault is set to launch an all-new, all-electric version of its iconic Twingo minicar from the 1990s in the next few months (at top). The car is targeted straight at the BYD Dolphin and is expected to have a starting price of about €17,000 (just under $20,000 US).

SOURCE: Motorpasión; images via Renault.

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