US inflation rose more than expected in February, boosted by jumps in the cost of clothing, medical care and airline tickets, the US Labour Department said today.
The Consumer Price Index, the main gauge of US inflation, rose last month by 0.3 per cent, both overall and in the closely watched "core" index which strips out volatile food and energy costs.
Released the day after a big cut in US interest rates disappointed Wall Street investors who had hoped for a more aggressive move, the latest CPI offered somewhat mixed news for the economy and the markets.
The fact that the February index rose at only half the rate it did in January was good news, but economists had largely viewed the beginning-of-the-year jump as a fluke and had expected a sharper deceleration in inflation.