Government data released Wednesday showed that consumer price increases cooled last month, however underlying readings continued to show persistent inflationary pressures acting on prices.

In March the consumer price index rose 0.1%, a far cry from the 0.4% it gained in the prior month. However the core inflation measure, which removes the more volatile food and energy measures continued to increase at a faster pace.

In the first three months of the year, the CPI increased 5%, marking a decline from the 6% reading from February. However analysts noted that the year over year figure benefited from being a comparison to last year, as energy prices surged in the wake of the Russian special military action in Ukraine.

Core inflation was up 0.4%, a slight decline from the 0.5% reading of the prior month. Overall the measure was up 5.6% year over year in March, compared to the 5.5% increase year over year seen in February. That was the first increase in the annual figure seen since September.

Prices continued their increases for categories such as shelter and apparel, however the pace of the increases did slow compared to the previous month.

Consumers did get some relief in categories such as cars and trucks, as well as groceries, where prices fell outright.

Although price increases had begun to cool by the end of 2022, so far the data this year has come in hotter than analysts have been predicting, leading investors to begin questioning whether policymakers will decide rates will need to go higher than was previously forecast.

The Federal Reserve is said to be paying particularly close attention to price pressures in the services sector, based on an assumption that sector will be more likely to pass on higher labor costs to consumers, and that might facilitate a deeper embedding of inflation in the economy.