Natural gas prices, under persistent downward pressure early in 2023 amid stout supplies and weak demand, dropped in March more than any other category measured by the federal government’s key inflation reading.

Slumping prices – both in the futures and cash markets – resulted in a 7.1% drop in consumer natural gas prices in March from the prior month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed. That followed an 8.0% slide in February, which also marked the largest monthly decline among all categories.

The broader energy index fell 3.5% in March after decreasing 0.6% in February.

Overall consumer inflation peaked at a 40-year high of 9.1% last summer, when natural gas futures approached $10/MMBtu, but the annual pace of inflation has eased...