The Labor
Department reported on Tuesday the U.S. consumer price index (CPI) jumped 0.4
per cent m-o-m in February, following an unrevised 0.3 per cent
m-o-m increase in the
previous month. This marked the strongest monthly advance in headline CPI since September 2023 (+0.4 per cent
m-o-m).
Over the last
12 months, the CPI climbed by 3.2 per cent y-o-y, accelerating from an
unrevised gain of 3.1 per cent y-o-y reported for the period ending in January.
Economists had predicted
the U.S. CPI to increase by 0.4 per cent m-o-m and 3.1 per cent y-o-y.
According to
the report, the index for shelter (+0.4 per cent m-o-m) and the index for
gasoline (+3.8 per cent m-o-m) both demonstrated increases in February, contributing over 60 per cent
of the monthly gain in the index for all items. Meanwhile, the food index (flat
m-o-m) was unchanged.
The core CPI,
excluding volatile food and fuel costs, went up by 0.4 per cent m-o-m in February, the same
pace as in the previous month.
In the 12
months through February, the core CPI surged by 3.8 per cent, following
an unrevised 3.9 per cent advance for the 12 months ending January. This represented the weakest 12-month rise
since May 2021 (+3.8 per cent).
Economists
had anticipated the core CPI to grow by 0.3 per cent m-o-m and 3.7 per cent
y-o-y in February.