Published on 15 Mar 2024 on Zacks via Yahoo Finance
5 Low-Beta Stocks for Safe Returns as Inflation Rises Again
Inflation rose for the second consecutive month in February, raising concerns of a rate cut anytime soon. The Labor Department reported on Mar 12 that the consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.4% in February. Although the jump came in line with the economists’ expectations, it was higher than January’s jump of 0.3%.
Also, this was the biggest jump since September 2023, following which inflation declined steadily, encouraging the Federal Reserve to halt interest rate hikes.
Year over year, CPI rose 3.2% in February after increasing 3.1% in January. Core CPI, which strips out the volatile energy and food prices, also rose 0.4% month over month in February, surpassing the consensus estimate of a rise of 0.3%.