Excluding volatile prices for food and energy, so-called core inflation increased 5.4% in February from 12 months earlier. Squeezed by inflation, consumers increased their spending by just 0.2% in February, down from a much larger 2.7% gain in January. Adjusted for inflation, spending actually fell 0.4% last month. Thursday’s report follows a more widely monitored inflation gauge, the consumer price index, that was issued earlier this month. Yet Fed officials project that inflation, as measured by its preferred gauge, will still be a comparatively high 4.3% by the end of this year.

Source: ABC News April 01, 2022 00:38 UTC