Headline Roundup • March 12th, 2025
US Inflation Cools to 2.8% in February
Economy And Jobs,Food Prices,Inflation,Inflation Rate,Housing And Homelessness,Tariffs,Donald Trump,Stock Market,Trade
Summary from the AllSides News Team
US inflation slowed to 2.8% in February, slightly lower than the 3% rate recorded in January.
The Details: The reduction was more than economists anticipated. Certain groceries increased faster than the overall inflation rate, including beef, biscuits, and apples. Prices for tomatoes, cereal, cupcakes, and cookies dropped over the past year. Egg prices increased 58.8% in February compared to a year ago, accelerating 10.4% from January. Housing cost increases accounted for nearly half of the price increases last month, balanced by a decline in the price of airline tickets and gasoline. The consumer price index (CPI), which measures the cost of everyday goods like gasoline, groceries and rent, rose 2.8% on an annual basis and 0.2% in February compared with last month.
For Context: The stock market has seen significant drops since President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China last week, leading to warnings about a potential economic downturn. The tariffs are widely expected to raise some prices for consumers, as importers typically pass on a portion of the additional cost to shoppers.
How The Media Covered It: Fox Business (Lean Right bias) focused on the slight decrease in inflation, framing it as a positive development ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting. On the other hand, CNN Business (Lean Left) highlighted the implications of Trump's tariff plans and the potential trade war, suggesting that the cooling of inflation could be short-lived.
Revised by the AllSides staff (of humans) after a first draft from our custom AI.
Featured Coverage of this Story
Prices for goods and services moved up less than expected in February, providing some relief as consumers and businesses worry about the looming impact tariffs might have on inflation, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday.
The consumer price index, a wide-ranging measure of costs across the U.S. economy, ticked up a seasonally adjusted 0.2% for the month, putting the annual inflation rate at 2.8%, according to the Labor Department agency. All-item CPI had increased 0.5% in January.
Inflation cooled slightly in February even as the pace of price growth remained well above the Federal Reserve's goal ahead of the central bank's policy meeting next week.
The Labor Department on Wednesday said that the consumer price index (CPI) – a broad measure of how much everyday goods like gasoline, groceries and rent cost – increased 0.2% in February compared with last month, while it rose 2.8% on an annual basis.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Inflation slowed more than expected in February and cooled for the first time in four months, but that progress may be short lived as President Donald Trump ramps up his trade war, which threatens to increase prices for Americans.
The Consumer Price Index, which measures price changes across commonly purchased goods and services, was 2.8% for the 12 months ended in February, a cooldown from the 3% annual rate notched in January, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Wednesday. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.2%,...
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