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No keyword ideas for “Rising gasoline costs kept inflation elevated in February, underscoring that the road to more modest consumer price increases following a pandemic-induced spike may continue to be bumpy. The climb in fuel costs and rent offset flat food prices. Overall prices rose 3.2% from a year earlier, up from 3.1% in January, according to the Labor Department’s consumer price index. On a monthly basis, costs increased 0.4% following a 0.3% gain the previous month. No keyword ideas for “What is the core inflation rate right now? Core prices, which exclude volatile food and energy items and are watched more closely by the Federal Reserve, increased 0.4% after a similar rise in January. That still lowered the annual increase from 3.9% to 3.8%, the smallest since May 2021. Protect your assets: Best high-yield savings accounts of 2023 No keyword ideas for “By the end of the year, Barclays expects overall inflation to slow modestly to 2.9% while the core reading drifts down to 3.1% - both still notably above the Fed’s 2% goal. Will the Fed lower interest rates in 2024? Fed Chair Jerome Powell told Congress last week that the central bank will likely trim its key interest rate this year but not until officials see more evidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward the Fed’s target. Since March 2022, the Fed has hiked its benchmark short-term rate from near zero to a 22-year high of 5% to 5.25% to corral inflation, though officials have paused since July.” No keyword ideas for “Inflation has been a major worry for many Americans, but a growing number have recently begun to feel more positive about the economy according to a poll conducted by The New York Times and Siena College. The survey, taken in late February, found 26% of registered voters nationwide felt the economy was good or excellent, a 6% jump from July. The increased optimism was most common among older Democrats. President Joe Biden still faces significant backlash over inflation from voters, and a slower-than-anticipated return to normal price increases could hurt his reelection chances. In a statement after the release of Tuesday's index report, Biden said, "Inflation is down two-thirds from its peak and annual core inflation is the lowest since May 2021. Wages are rising faster than prices over the last year and since the pandemic." However, he added, "As I said in my State of the Union, we have more to do to lower costs and give the middle class a fair shot." He said the federal budget he proposed Monday would address inflation by lowering prescription drug costs and rent, among other measures. Biden’s top economic adviser said the question of affordability will be a top priority for the president. “It is going to center on health care. It's going to center on housing. If you look in terms of the sources of affordability challenges, health care and housing are two of the biggest," Lael Brainard, director of the National Economic Council, told USA TODAY on Tuesday. "Of course, the president also is going to continue focusing on inflation at the grocery store where actually we saw prices being flat over the month.” It's unclear how much Biden will benefit from improved inflation numbers at the ballot box. For example, although grocery prices overall have risen modestly in the past year, "voters are wanting even lower prices at the grocery stores," says Gabriel Mathy, an economic professor at American University. "This could lead to them feeling nostalgic for the prices" under former President Donald Trump, Mathy added. And most voters' perceptions of the economy are influenced more by their partisan leanings than objective economic data, says Todd Belt, director of the political management program at George Washington University. But Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics, says Biden's argument for reelection will strengthen among independent voters if inflation numbers continue to improve in coming months. Contributing: Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, Rachel Looker”