US inflation up again in February in latest sign that price pressures remain elevated

WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumer prices in the United States picked up last month, a sign that inflation remains a persistent challenge for the Federal Reserve and for President Joe Biden's re-election campaign, both of which are counting on a steady easing of price pressures this year.

Prices rose 0.4 per cent from January to February, higher than the previous month's figure of 0.3 per cent, the Labor Department said Tuesday. Compared with a year earlier, consumer prices rose 3.2 per cent last month, above January's 3.1 per cent annual pace.

Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called "core" prices also climbed 0.4 per cent from January to February, matching the previous month's rise and a faster pace than is consistent with the Fed's 2 per cent inflation target. Core inflation is watched especially closely because it typically provides a better read of where inflation is likely headed.

"It's a disappointment, but not a disaster," said Eric Winograd, US economist at asset manager AB. "The underlying details are more encouraging than the top-line number, which was boosted by a few volatile categories — the type of prices that tend not to repeat month-to-month."

Those volatile items include gas prices, which jumped 3.8 per cent just from January to February but are still below their level of a year ago. Air fares surged 3.6 per cent after two months of much smaller increases. Clothing prices rose 0.6 per cent after three months of declines but are unchanged compared with a year earlier.

Housing and rental costs, though, which tend to change more slowly, cooled in February: They rose 0.4 per cent from January, slower than the 0.6 per cent increase the previous month. Measures of new apartment leases, which have cooled, will likely feed into the government's inflation data in the coming months.

New car prices ticked down 0.1 per cent in February. Though these prices remain much higher than they were before the pandemic, they're expected to decline further as more vehicles show up on dealer lots. Grocery prices were unchanged last month and are up just 1 per cent from a year earlier.

Despite February's elevated figures, most economists expect inflation to continue slowly declining this year. At the same time, the uptick last month may underscore the Fed's cautious approach toward interest rate cuts.

Voter perceptions of inflation are sure to occupy a central place in this year's presidential election.

Despite a healthy job market and a record-high stock market, polls show that many Americans blame Biden for the surge in consumer prices that began in 2021. Though inflationary pressures have significantly eased, average prices remain about far above where they stood three years ago.

In his State of the Union speech last week, Biden highlighted steps he has taken to reduce costs, like capping the price of insulin for Medicare patients. The president also criticised many large companies for engaging in "price gouging" and so-called "shrinkflation," in which a company shrinks the amount of product inside a package rather than raising the price.

"Too many corporations raise prices to pad their profits, charging more and more for less and less," Biden said.

Overall inflation has plummeted from a peak of 9.1 per cent in June 2022, though it's now easing more slowly than it did last spring and summer. The prices of some goods, from appliances to furniture to used cars, are actually falling after clogged supply chains during the pandemic had sent prices soaring higher. There are more new cars on dealer lots and electronics on store shelves.

By contrast, prices for dental care, car repairs, and other services are still rising faster than they did before the pandemic. Car insurance has shot higher, reflecting rising costs for repairs and replacement. And after having sharply raised pay for nurses and other in-demand staff, hospitals are passing their higher wage costs on to patients in the form of higher prices.

Still, Fed Chair Jerome Powell signalled in congressional testimony last week that the central bank is getting closer to cutting rates. After meeting in January, Fed officials said in a statement that they needed "greater confidence" that inflation was steadily falling to their 2 per cent target level. Since then, several of the Fed's policymakers have said they believe prices will keep declining. One reason, they suggested, is that consumers are increasingly pushing back against higher prices by seeking out cheaper alternatives.

Most economists expect the Fed's first rate cut to occur in June. When the Fed cuts its benchmark rate, over time it reduces borrowing costs for mortgages, car loans, credit cards and business loans.

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