Numbers are ‘encouraging,’ economist says
Inflation slowed more than expected in February, President Donald Trump’s first full month back in office, according to Labor Department data released Wednesday.
While the consumer price index (CPI), a key measure of costs for everyday goods such as groceries, rent, and gasoline, increased 2.8 percent year-over-year and 0.2 percent from January, those figures are lower than Labor Department economists were anticipating.
Core CPI, which excludes food and energy costs, climbed 3.1 percent from a year ago and 0.2 percent from the prior month, also below consensus estimates.
The numbers, which come after years of skyrocketing inflation under former president Joe Biden, are “encouraging,” economist Sam Williamson said in a statement.
“Many categories made encouraging disinflation progress last month, including food, energy, and shelter,” Williamson said. “Prices for new vehicles and airline fares actually decreased month over month.”
Williamson noted, however, that the effect of Trump’s tariffs “likely hasn’t materialized yet.”
Trump during a Wednesday meeting with the Irish prime minister called the report “very good news.”
Trump, greeting Irish PM, takes shouted question on new inflation report. “Very good news,” he says. @FreeBeacon pic.twitter.com/LAE5XuSiOF
— Collin Anderson (@CAndersonMO) March 12, 2025
The report comes as Trump works to boost domestic manufacturing while overhauling the federal bureaucracy. The labor market added 151,000 jobs in February, with strong gains for native-born workers, even as federal government payrolls shrank by 10,000, the Labor Department said last week.
Trump touted the job numbers on Friday, saying, “During the first full month in office, we’ve not only stopped the manufacturing collapse, but we’ve begun to rapidly reverse it and get major gains.”
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