There is more good news on the economic front. The rate of inflation declined significantly during President Donald Trump’s first full month in office.
The prices for goods still increased, but by a rate far less than expected, according to CNBC.
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. The all-item CPI had increased 0.5% in January.
Excluding food and energy prices, the core CPI also rose 0.2% on the month and was at 3.1% on a 12-month basis, the lowest reading since April 2021. The core CPI had climbed 0.4% in January.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for 0.3% increases on both headline and core, with respective annual rates of 2.9% and 3.2%, meaning that all of the rates were 0.1 percentage point less than expected.
Kevin Gordon, senior investment strategist at Charles Schwab, urged caution, telling CNBS that much of the inflation data “does not incorporate what is to come and what already has happened for tariffs.”
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He further noted that “The vagaries and uncertainties associated with policy are still a much stronger force in the market than anything CPI-related or in terms of one data point.”
However, egg prices are still on the rise, an issue that had affected scores of American consumers, ABC News reported.
Egg prices, however, a closely watched symbol of price increases, soared 58.8% in February compared to a year ago, accelerating from the previous month. Bird flu has decimated the egg supply, lifting prices higher.
The Justice Department has launched an investigation into egg producers to ascertain whether market practices have contributed to soaring costs for eggs. However, others have suggested that there are other factors that have played an important part in increasing prices for eggs.
I want to expand on what I discussed with @SonnieJohnson on her show today and break down the real reasons behind skyrocketing egg prices.
— Doni 🤓🏴🏴☠️ (@DoniTheMisfit) March 8, 2025
Egg prices didn’t just skyrocket on their own. This crisis was manufactured by vegan extremists and the lawmakers who conspired with them to… pic.twitter.com/BaLr3NF821
This report comes after the Trump administration imposed 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum coming from Canada and other nations. Canada recently retaliated, levying tariffs on $21 billion worth of U.S. goods.
Critics of the president’s tariff gambit argue that the higher prices foreign companies will have to pay will be passed along to American consumers who are still struggling to cope with heightened inflation rates that have risen over recent years.
However, supporters argue that Trump is leveraging the threat of tariffs to obtain better trade conditions for U.S. companies, which could lead to lower prices on many goods.
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