Anyone who’s filled up their tank recently may have trouble believing the latest Consumer Price Index report from the Labor Department. It says:

In April,  the index for petroleum-based energy fell 1.6 percent, offsetting a 2.5  percent increase in the index for energy services.

Wait a minute. Petroleum was down? Didn’t gasoline prices just hit a record high? The Associated Press explains:

Since gasoline prices normally rise significantly in April, the 5.6 percent rise in prices for the month turned into a 2 percent drop after the government adjusted for normal seasonal changes.

So it’s all in the timing. If gasoline had hit $3.70 a gallon (the price in my neighborhood this morning) in January, it would have been a huge contributor to inflation. If it stays there in October, it will also be a huge contributor. But because it was April, it actually made inflation look tame.

The AP says today’s report “should ease concerns at the Federal Reserve that the sharp increase in food and energy prices this year would lead to broader inflation problems.” I hope that, instead, the Fed treats this reading with a giant dose of skepticism.