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By Kristin Myers, Editor-in-Chief

What's Happening Today

Good morning! It's Kristin with your daily morning digest.

Wholesale inflation, or the costs for manufacturers and producers to make goods, rose 0.5% in April, down from a 1.6% rise in March, according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) released today. These numbers, together with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures released yesterday, serve as two pieces of the country's wider inflation picture. Much like yesterday's CPI report, PPI's annual rate also edged down to 11% from the month before when it was 11.5% in March—another sign that inflation could have peaked. Widely considered a leading indicator of prices for consumers, a falling PPI rate suggests that the rate of inflation for consumers will likely slow as well.

However, the annual rate of inflation still remains near 40-year highs, putting more pressure on the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates to lower prices. But the Fed can't do this too quickly or it might fail to bring about a "soft landing," which could then trigger a recession. If the Fed moves too slowly to tighten monetary policy, consumers could have to pay higher costs for goods and services longer. Markets, jittery about the ability of the central bank to thread that needle, have been on a roller coaster ride since last week.

Amid the heightened volatility in markets, prices of major cryptocurrencies have tumbled; over the last 24 hours, Bitcoin plunged below $29,000 (it was around $33,000 earlier this week). The price of Ether, the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, also fell and is now below $2,000 (it was around $2,400 on Monday).

- Kristin

Editors' Picks

More Than $200 Billion Wiped Off Cryptocurrency Market in a Day (Bloomberg)

76% of The Balance Readers Cut Back as Inflation Bites (The Balance)

Is It Better To Rent or Buy? What To Do in a Hot Housing Market (The Wall Street Journal)

How To Get Equity Out of Your Home (The Balance)

How Much Commission Does My Agent Make From a Life Insurance Purchase? (The Balance)

Certificate of Deposit Rate History (The Balance)

10 Types of Credit Cards, and How To Use Them (The Balance)

Off the Charts

The Federal Reserve delivered on its promise of a modest rate hike in March, and that move has translated into higher credit card interest rates. The average credit card interest rate for purchases is now 20.66%, according to April data collected by The Balance.

Number of the Day

18.6% - That's how much the price of a plane ticket rose in April alone, showing that the pandemic era of dirt-cheap flights has come decisively to an end.