
Inflation ticked higher last month, reversing recent progress
CNN
It’s not a Good Friday for the Federal Reserve.
It’s not a Good Friday for the Federal Reserve. The central bank’s preferred inflation gauge, the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, was up 2.5% for the 12 months that ended in February, a faster pace than January’s 2.4% rise in prices. The Commerce Department data released Friday means the Fed is even further from achieving its goal of 2% inflation. Central bankers will likely take some solace in the core PCE index that excludes energy and food. That index slowed slightly to 2.8% from the 2.9% annual rate seen in January. And, on a monthly basis, it slowed to 0.3% from 0.5% in January. This story is developing and will be updated.

Cara Petersen, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s acting enforcement director, resigned from the agency on Tuesday. In an email to colleagues announcing her decision, Petersen slammed the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the agency, which was established as a banking watchdog following the 2008 global financial crisis.