That's about where it's been for the last six months. Still, it doesn't look good when compared to Jan. 2000, when the core CPI was rising at only a 2.0 percent rate. The CPI is the market's best measure of inflation at the consumer level. That's the highest reading since July. But because the rate hasn't spiked wildly out of control, economists aren't yet waving any red flags.
People have to keep their eye on the ball here.
The Fed is easing. They're easing because the economy slowed appreciably in the second part of last year, and the evidence we have to date is not enough to stay their hand. So inflation in general has been ticking up, albeit slowly, in most areas of goods and services. But there are a few reasons why this report most likely won't change the Fed's stance towards defending the economy against a recession. First, one month does not a trend make, especially when the core rate of inflation is the same as the previous month.