Consumer inflation running at a 2-2.5% rate

The CPI jumped 0.7% in February, but it was almost entirely energy-related. Both the headline and the core CPI are up 2.0% in the past 12 months. This is slightly below the long-term trend of 2.5%, as illustrated in the chart above. In short, no news here, though I would be happier if inflation were 1% and the Fed were raising rates modestly rather than promising to keep them very low for a long time.