Newly released federal inflation data showed prices rose faster than expected in February, contradicting federal data from earlier this month.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis released the Personal Consumption Expenditures Index, a key marker of inflation, which showed a modest increase of 0.3% in February, albeit more than experts expected.
More consumer spending on goods and services in February helped drive up the PCE.
"Core PCE inflation came in a little above the already high expectations in Feb," Harvard economist Jason Furman wrote on X. "The pattern is the opposite of what you want to see--the shorter the window the higher the annualized rate (and still high at 12 months)."
Furman said that price increases could be partially attributed to companies bracing for President Donald Trump’s tariffs, which are expected to begin in earnest April 2.
