Is Inflation Sneakily Starting To Rise Again?

Consumer prices were 6.4 percent higher in January than they had been, on average, a year ago—the seventh straight month in which the annualized inflation rate declined after peaking at 9.1 percent in June.

Beneath the hopeful indicator in the topline figure, however, Tuesday's consumer price report gives off some worrying signals. Instead of continuing on a trajectory towards the Federal Reserve's target of 2 percent annually, inflation seems to be leveling off at a higher level and perhaps even starting to tick back in the other direction.

The annualized...