By Geoffrey Smith
U.S. headline inflation slowed again last month but core prices continued to rise at an uncomfortably fast pace.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics said the consumer price index rose by 0.4% in February, a slowdown from 0.5% in January. The annual rate of inflation fell to 6.0% from 6.4%, and is now down by one-third from its peak of over 9% in June last year. Even so, it remains at three times the Federal Reserve's targeted rate of 2%.
Stripped of volatile fuel and energy components, core prices rose by a chunky 0.5%, an acceleration from 0.4% the prior month. The annual core rate consequently slowed much less than the headline rate, falling to 5.5% from 5.6% in January.