U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers were nearly unanimous at their meeting last month that the U.S. economy faced risks of simultaneously higher inflation and slower growth, with some policymakers noting that "difficult tradeoffs" could lie ahead for the central bank,

Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City President Jeff Schmid said he would prioritize reining in inflation if US central bankers are forced to balance their price stability goal against their mandate for full employment.

Normally, a consumer-price index reading as mild as the one released by the Labor Department on Thursday would set investors cheering in expectation of interest-rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. But the March CPI will mean less to the Fed now that large increases in tariffs have gone into effect,