U.S. inflation rises 3.2% in February, faster than estimates

Investing.com -- Headline U.S. consumer price growth accelerated in February, while the underlying measure was faster than anticipated, in a sign of sticky inflationary pressures that could complicate the timing of potential Federal Reserve interest rate cuts this year.

The annualized reading of the closely-watched consumer price index increased by 3.2% last month, quicker than estimates that it would remain at a pace of 3.1% notched in January. The year-on-year core figure, which strips out volatile items like food and fuel, cooled to 3.8% from 3.9%, but was still slightly above projections of 3.7%.

Month-on-month, the overall consumer price index rose by 0.4% in February, in line with expectations and faster than the 0.3% uptick in January. The core gauge came in at 0.4%, matching the prior month and marginally hotter than expectations of 0.3%.

Analysts had said they would be paying particular attention to the monthly figure as a signpost for the momentum of inflation in the world's largest economy.

Fed officials have made easing inflation the major objective of a series of interest rate hikes that have brought borrowing costs up to more than two-decade highs. They have suggested that cuts may be coming later this year, but have stressed that they first need to see more evidence that price growth is sustainably easing back down to their 2% annualized target.

U.S. stock futures were trading higher following the data. Yields on the rate-sensitive 2-year Treasury bond and the benchmark 10-year note, which typically move inversely to prices, climbed.