Fortune

While the latest Consumer Price Index numbers show a drop in inflation from March’s four-decade high, uncertainty remains about where inflation is headed and what else can be done by the Federal Reserve to soften the economic blow being felt across the U.S. From the Fed’s latest efforts to cool the economy to how to prepare for a recession, here’s what you need to know.

Is the inflation glass half empty or half full? The latest numbers mean different things to different economists. The Consumer Price Index rose at an 8.3% annual rate in April, slightly moderating from March’s four-decade high. Will inflation stay high, or is it finally beginning to come down?

Pace of inflation eased some in April, but many Americans continue to struggle. Americans are making sacrifices to keep financially afloat as inflation increasingly eats away at their budgets. But how much more can they afford to cut?

The Fed just increased interest rates by the most since 2000. A former official says it’s not nearly enough to slow inflation. The Fed is expected to raise rates even more over the next year in an attempt to cool the overheated economy. But Richard Clarida, former vice chair of the Federal Reserve board of governors, says that the agency needs to do more—a lot more.  How to manage your money during a recession, according to personal finance experts Forty percent of economists believe the U.S. economy will fall into a recession within the next 24 months. If they’re right, investors should be prepared to protect their portfolios in a worst-case scenario.

Bitcoin isn’t an inflation hedge, and it hasn’t been for a long time, Bank of America says. Lately Bitcoin hasn’t acted as much of an inflation hedge—instead, it’s been trading as a risk asset that often moves with the stock market.

Some of the biggest pandemic migration destinations also have the highest inflation. Soaring home prices and inflation are likely to affect wallets this year, and in cities where home prices are rising fast and inflation is particularly high, residents risk having to face both problems at once.  Soaring inflation drives up gold demand by 34% as investors scramble for a safe haven. Physical demand for the asset jumped 34% year over year to 1,234 tonnes in the first three months of 2022—that’s the highest quarterly demand increase the gold market has seen since 2018.    Mortgage rates just turned ‘negative’ when adjusted for inflation—and that could keep powering the housing market boom. The rate on the classic 30-year home loan ramped at a speed virtually never before seen in a four-month span, and potential buyers should consider what they’ll be paying per month versus the trend in inflation.