United States Inflation Rate

Annual inflation rate in the US unexpectedly edged up to 3.2% in February 2024, compared to 3.1% in January and above forecasts of 3.1%. Energy costs dropped much less than expected (-1.9% vs -4.6% in January), with gasoline declining 3.9% (vs -6.4%), utility gas service falling 8.8% (vs -17.8%) and fuel oil going down 5.4% (vs -14.2%). Meanwhile, prices increased at a softer pace for food (2.2% vs 2.6%), shelter (5.7% vs 6%), new vehicles (0.4% vs 0.7%), and medical care (2.9% vs 3%). Also, the cost was steady for apparel (0% vs 0.1%) and continued to decline for used cars and trucks (-1.8% vs -3.5%). In contrast, prices continued to rise sharply for transportation (9.9% vs 9.5%). Meanwhile, the monthly inflation rate rose to 0.4% from 0.3%, with prices for shelter and gasoline contributing over 60% of the increase. On the other hand, core inflation eased to 3.8% from 3.9%, compared to forecasts of 3.7%. The monthly rate remained steady at 0.4%, instead of forecasts of 0.3%.