Inflation Lowers in February, But Uncertainty Remains as Widespread Tariffs Approach
The report released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on March 12 delivered the positive news of U.S. inflation lowering to a level greater than economists expected, according to survey results compiled by data provider FactSet. Following three consecutive months of increasing inflation, the February CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased by 0.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis after rising 0.5 percent in January. Despite continuing to remain above the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%, a year-over-year comparison indicates that the unadjusted CPI-U of 2.8% lowered from 3.2% in February 2024 after peaking at 9.1% in June 2022. In comparison, the core prices, which exclude the volatile food and energy categories rose 3.1% from a year earlier, representing a month-over-month improvement of the 3.3% increase at the end of January 2025 and a year-over-year improvement of the 3.8% increase at the end of February 2024. The slowing pace of inflation in February is even more notable since it comes amid looming widespread tariffs to go into effect by the Trump administration; and although the news release by the BLS is encouraging, “most economists expect inflation will remain elevated this year” due to the possibility of the tariffs pushing goods prices higher; while others point out that there remains no clear picture about where inflation is headed.
Source: https://apnews.com/article/inflation-economy-tariffs-trump-883afba8a7199b3a92a617b68ab1a6a6