Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Inflation Returns, Barely

U.S. consumer prices rose for the first time in four months in February, but very slightly so: It was the smallest annual gain in nearly two and a half years. The Labor Department said on Tuesday its Consumer Price Index increased by just 0.2 percent, driven by gains in the costs of food, gasoline and rents.

In the 12 months through February, the CPI rose just 1.5 percent, the smallest gain since September 2016. The CPI had increased 1.6 percent on a year-over-year basis in January.

Excluding the volatile food and energy components, core CPI - the measure the Fed keeps an eye on - edged up 0.1 percent, the smallest increase since August 2018. Core CPI had increased by 0.2 percent for five straight months. In the 12 months through February, core CPI rose 2.1 percent.

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