Inflation around the U.S. rose at an annual rate of 6% rate in February, cooling from the prior month, the Labor Department reported Tuesday.
The report matched economists’ forecasts that the Consumer Price Index, a broad basket of good and services, increased 6% last month, according to financial data company FactSet.
In January, inflation rose at a 6.4% annual rate, hotter than expected, and raising investor concerns that the Federal Reserve may need to continue hiking interest rates for longer — and higher — than previously expected in order to tame rising prices. T
Before the abrupt collapse of Silicon Valley Bank on Friday, Fed officials were widely expected to lift their benchmark rate when they meet next week. But banking industry turmoil after state regulators seized SVB and New York’s Signature Bank have since thrown the central bank’s calculus into doubt.
This is a developing story.
