Prices up 3.6 percent annually in April, reflecting upward trend, but policymakers say it’s temporary

In April Americans’ after-tax income slid 15.1 percent from the record level it hit in March, when hundreds of billions of dollars in stimulus payments goosed U.S. bank accounts, after adjusting for inflation. In March, income had jumped an eye-popping 22.7 percent compared with February. So while after-tax income slipped in April, it has trended upward in the longer run, as stimulus checks and unemployment benefits continued to arrive in April but at lower levels.