Wednesday’s Cons🃏umer Price I𝔍ndex (CPI) report for March showed that inflation continues �𝐆�to be surprisingly sticky as the U.S. economy remains strong even in the face of high interest rates.

The latest report marked the third straight month that inflation came in hotter than expected. The consumer price readings have 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:dampened hopes that the Federal Reserve, which has kept rates at a 23-year high to reduce inflationary pressure, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:will cut rates any time soon.

So what does that mean for you?

Mortgages and Other Credit W💙ill Remain Expensive

If you're waiting for rates to fall before buying a home or refinancing a mortgage, you may be waiting longer.

The fed funds rate, the interest rate that the Fed charges banks to borrow money, is set at 5.25% to 5.5%. The rate has long-te🐼rm effects on other credit offerings like mortgage rates and credit cards.

Perhaps nowhere have elevated interest rates had more of an impact than with 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:mortgage rates, 💫which hit two-decade-high levels in 2023 after the Federal Reserve began its campaign to raise interest rates.

Hopes that the Fed could begin cutting rates helped ease mortgage rates going into this year, pushing them just under 7%, but today's report stoked fears they could bounce back

"March inflation figures were very bad, which also means bad news for interest rates,” Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, wrote in a commentary. “Mortgage rates, unfortunately, will move a notch higher and are likely to cross above 7% in the upcoming weeks.”

High mortgage rates have made monthly payments unaffordable for many first-time buyers and have discouraged many homeowners from selling since most have lowe💯r rates they locked in years aജgo.

Bottom line: It will likely take longer for the Fed to 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:move forward with rate cuts, and only after will mortgage rates follow.

Higher Prices On Goods and Services

The higher-than-expected inflation rate means that the costs of goods and services aren’t just rising, they are rising at a rate faster than economists expect. Slower inflation 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:wouldn't mean prices move lower, just that prices wo𒀰uld increase at a slower rate.  

Wednesday’s CPI data not only showed that ov🌳erall prices continue to rise, but that prices were moving higher in🤡 several important consumer categories. 

“Service providers who tend to change prices less frequently, like insurers and healthcare providers, have made big price increases in recent months to pass on higher operating costs. That is contrib💎uting to the stickiness of inflation in the first half of 2024,” said Bill Adams, Comerica Bank chi🌟ef economist, in a prepared statement.

Bottom line: Prices for things like food, groceries and housing are still💟 elevated and are movin𒈔g up more rapidly than expected.

Impacts on Investment Accounts and Retirement

Investors have been anticipating interest rate cuts for several months, with hopes for a rate cut at the Fed's June policy meeting. However, today's report sent stocks lower as those hopes were dashed.

Higher interest rates mean steeper borrowing costs for businesses, potentially weighing on future earnings and undercutting financial performance, putting more 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:downward pressure on share prices. 

Retirement accounts like 401(k)s and 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Individual Retirement Acc🐼ounts (IRA) are investment portfolios that usually contain stocks, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询: index funds, a﷽s well as other investments that can ⛄lose value if the market declines.

Bottom line: Inflated prices and high interest rates continue to weigh on markets, potentially taking a bite ꧅out of your retirement accounts𒀰. 

Good News for Savers

Higher interest rates may be bad for borrowers, but they're an opportunity for savers.

The same interest rates that make car and house loans more expensive also make 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:high-interest savings plans, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:certificates of deposits (CDs),  澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:money-market accounts and other interes♔t-paying accountsꦆ more valuable.

While they are a bit lower than when they hit their peaks in 2023, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:CDs are still paying close to historically high interest for savers who can set aside money over a period. For example, a 6-month CD 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:paid interest of 5.55% in April, not quite as high as the peak of about 6% las🔯t fall, but it's still well above the 0.8% interest rate that 𝔍CDs paid in January 2022.

Bottom line: You will be able to find these kinds of favorable rates on savings ꦚas long as inflation keeps rates high.

Diccon Hyatt contributed to this article.