Inflation report February 2024: 3.2% reading means interest rate cuts could be delayed
The biggest economic story of the post-pandemic period has been inflation.
The biggest economic story of the post-pandemic period has been inflation.
It's a narrative that, at first, had two clear phases. First came the breakneck acceleration in price growth amid reopenings and job changes, when the 12-month inflation rate surged from less than 1% in June 2020 to more than 9% in June 2022.
Shoppers in New York City on Friday. John Taggart / Bloomberg via Getty ImagesThen the fever appeared to break, with price growth slowing over the next 12 months to just 3.1% in June 2023.
Yet it is now clear that a third chapter has emerged: a stall. For the past nine months, the annual rate of inflation has held between 3% and 4%.
On Tuesday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the Consumer Price Index climbed 3.2% in the 12-month period ending in February — missing expectations of a slightly lower 3.1% reading and coming in higher the 3.1% in January.
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