Michael Huber 
CNN
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Inflation slowed more than expected in February and cooled for the first time in four months, but that progress may be short lived as President Donald Trump ramps up his trade war, which threatens to increase prices for Americans.
The Consumer Price Index, which measures price changes across commonly purchased goods and services, was 2.8% for the 12 months ended in February, a cooldown from the 3% annual rate notched in January, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Wednesday. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.2%, versus 0.5% in January.
Economists were expecting inflation to slow for the month amid falling gas prices and continued disinflation in housing-related costs. FactSet consensus estimates called for prices to rise 0.3% from January and 2.9% annually.
February’s numbers came in better than expected thanks in part to two big — and very welcome — reasons: Grocery prices were flat for the month and gas prices fell.
Consumers got some relief on the egg front as well.
Egg prices, which have soared because an ongoing bout of avian flu is ravaging the industry, rose 10.4% for the month, a cooler reading than the 15.2% increase logged in January. Still, egg prices remain high, up 58.8% from a year ago.
Food and fuel are two of the most frequent ways that consumers encounter inflation, and those prices can fluctuate wildly on a month-by-month basis. That’s due to factors such as weather, war, disease, supply chain snarls, spikes in demand or other temporary shocks.
Because of that, those categories are excluded in “core” measurements meant to provide a sense of how underlying inflation is faring.
February’s core CPI came in better than expected as well, rising 0.2% for the month (from 0.4% in January) and slowing to 3.1% annually from 3.2%.
This story is developing and will be updated.
