Here's everything to expect from Wednesday's key report on inflation

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Prices for all items in April are projected to show a 0.4% gain on the month, the same as in March, though the annual rate is expected to edge lower to 3.4%. On the important core measure that excludes food and energy, the respective projections are 0.3%, lower than March’s 0.4% reading, and 3.6%, down from 3.8%. Wall Street will pore through Wednesday’s report looking for signs of how much longer the elevated inflation conditions will continue. One key focus will be on housing. People shop in the food section of a retail store in Rosemead, California, Jan. 19, 2024. Frederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty Images

Inflation trends may have gotten a little less dreary in April, though they are still likely to keep the Federal Reserve uncomfortable enough to stay on pause with interest rates.

The consumer price index, a broad measure of the cost of goods and services in the marketplace, is expected to show another increase for the month, though the annual inflation rate is projected to come down slightly, according to Dow Jones consensus forecasts.

Prices for all items are projected to show a 0.4% gain on the month, the same as in March, though the annual rate is expected to edge lower to 3.4%, compared to the 3.5% reading in the previous month. On the important core measure that excludes food and energy, the respective projections are 0.3%, lower than March’s 0.4% gain, and 3.6%, which is down from 3.8%.

In remarks made Tuesday in Amsterdam, Fed Chair Jerome Powell expressed hope that inflation would decelerate through the year but acknowledged the slow progress and provided further direction that rates aren’t likely to move anytime soon.

“I expect that inflation will move back down on a monthly basis to levels that were more like the lower readings we were having last year,” he told attendees at a banking conference. “I would say my confidence in that is not as high as it was, having seen these readings in the first three months of the year. So we’re just going to have to see where the inflation data fall out.”

Wholesale gauge brings bad news

Keeping with the higher-than-expected readings in the first quarter, the producer price index rose 0.5% in April, nearly double the expectation to kick

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