February CPI Preview
Core CPI prints have remained within a fairly narrow band in the last several readings and we expect more of the same for February . After rising post-Liberation Day, core goods price increases were muted in the December and January inflation reports, but we feel there is upward pressure that will be realized in the coming months. More problematic for policymakers is the recent uptick in core services excluding housing (aka supercore), which is closely followed by policymakers. Because physical inputs are only a small portion of service firms’ costs, firmer services prices cannot be largely ...