Inflation Hotter Than Expected for Feb

The February Consumer Price Index came in at 3.2% year over year, hotter than the 3.1% median forecast pulled together by the Wall Street Journal. That was also a 0.4% month-over-month increase on a seasonally-adjusted basis, up from 0.4% in January.

Shelter and gasoline price increases created 60% of the monthly increase. The core CPI — not counting food or energy because of their volatility — was up 0.4% February over January. That was 10 basis points more than the median forecast. The year-over-year forecast for core CPI was 3.7%, while the actual figure was 3.8%.