MW: Alternative core CPI measures unchanged in Feb.
By Rex Nutting
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Core inflation was flat in February, according to two alternative methods of figuring underlying inflation that don't automatically exclude food and energy costs, the Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank reported Thursday. The median consumer price index fell at a 0.3% annual rate in February, the first decrease in its 26-year history. Another alternative gauge -- the 16% trimmed mean CPI -- rose at a 0.5% annual rate, the smallest increase since October 2008. In the past year, the consumer price index has risen 2.1%, the traditional core CPI (which excludes food and energy) is up 1.3%, the Cleveland Fed's median CPI is up a record-low 0.8%, and the Cleveland Fed's trimmed mean CPI is up 1.1%.
