The Consumer Price Index (CPI) report of February showed that the inflation pressure was relaxed in February, which caused a number of fears about the health of the American economy during a rocky few weeks before markets.
The latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that the consumer price index (CPI) increased by 2.8% compared to the previous year in February, under the annual profit of 3% of January and for the expectations of the economist of an annual increase of 2.9%. The index rose by 0.2% compared to the previous month, a delay compared to the increase of 0.5% in January and a beat compared to the estimates of economists of a monthly increase of 0.3%.
Based on the “core”, which spends the more volatile costs of food and gas, the prices climbed in February by 0.2% compared to the previous month, lower than the monthly profit of 0.4% of January and 3.1% compared to last year – the lowest annual increase in Core CPI since April 2021.
This also meant a precipitation of the 3.3% core price increases that were seen in the period of last month and led to the estimates of the Bloomberg consensus. It was the first time since July that both Headline and Kern CPI showed a delay in price growth.
Read more: $ 6 eggs and other inflation pain points: prices are rising here
“Today’s inflation report brings much -needed lighting for stock markets, thereby gaining immediate concerns about stagflation and gives the FED room to reduce the policy rates in the coming months as economic data will continue to deteriorate,” said Seema Shah, Chief Global Strategist at Principal Asset Management, said in response to the data.
“Certainly, with extremely increased policy uncertainty that weigh on sentiment, retail companies are starting to sound warning bubbles around consumer spending and recession, there is a strong chance that the Fed Put will have to get into play relatively quickly.”
Core inflation has been stubbornly increased due to the sticky costs for shelter and services such as insurance and medical care. But shelter showed further signs of relaxation in February, and rose on an annual basis by 4.2%, the smallest increase of 12 months since December 2021.
On a month of the month, the reception index rose by 0.3% compared to an increase of 0.4% in January. Likewise, the index for rent and the equivalent rent (OER) of the owners in the previous month increased by 0.3%. The equivalent rent of the owners is the hypothetical rent that a homeowner would pay for the same real estate.
“The inflation of housing is historically the ‘sticky’ inflation component, which means that it takes longer to boken price trends,” wrote Gargi Chaudhuri, main investment and portfolio strategist at BlackRock, in a note to customers. “The recent trend in house prices keeps us optimistic on the future inflation process.”
