<\/figure>\nOn a monthly basis, the CPI rose by 0.2% in February (seasonally-adjusted), after a 0.5% increase in January. The \u201ccore\u201d CPI increased by 0.2% in February.<\/p>\n
The price index for a broad set of energy sources rose by 0.2% in February, with declines in gasoline (-1.0%) offset by increases in electricity (+1.0%), natural gas (+2.5%) and fuel oil (+0.8%). Meanwhile, the food index rose 0.2%, after a 0.4% increase in January. The index for food away from home increased by 0.4% and the index for food at home remained unchanged.<\/p>\n
The index for shelter (+0.3%) was the largest contributor to the monthly increase in all items index, accounting for nearly half of the total increase. Other top contributors that rose in February include indexes for medical care (+0.3%), used cars and trucks (+0.9%), household furnishings and operations (+0.4%), as well as recreation (+0.3%). Meanwhile, the index for airline fares (-4.0%) and new vehicles (-0.1%) were among the few major indexes that decreased over the month.<\/p>\n
The index for shelter makes up more than 40% of the \u201ccore\u201d CPI, rose by 0.3% in February, following an increase of 0.4% in January. Both indexes for owners\u2019 equivalent rent (OER) and rent of primary residence (RPR) increased by 0.3% over the month. Despite the moderation, shelter costs remained the largest contributors to headline inflation.<\/p>\n <\/figure>\nNAHB constructs a \u201creal\u201d rent index to indicate whether inflation in rents is faster or slower than core inflation. It provides insight into the supply and demand conditions for rental housing. When inflation in rents is rising faster than core inflation, the real rent index rises and vice versa. The real rent index is calculated by dividing the price index for rent by the core CPI (to exclude the volatile food and energy components).<\/p>\n
In January, the Real Rent Index rose by 0.1%. Over the first two months of 2025, the monthly growth rate of the Real Rent Index averaged remained flat at 0.0%, unchanged from the same period in 2024.<\/p>\n <\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The inflationary pressure from tariffs and trade war would weigh on the economy and complicate the Fed\u2019s path to its 2% target.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":226,"featured_media":39054,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-61978","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Inflation eased ahead of tariffs<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n