The Federal Reserve’s favored inflation gauge slowed sharply last month. Retired Ripon College economist Paul Schoofs says its an encouraging sign in the Fed’s yearlong effort to cool price pressures through steadily higher interest rates. The Commerce Department report showed that consumer prices rose 0.3 percent from January to February, down from a 0.6 percent increase from December to January. The report also showed that consumer spending dropped from a month earlier, but that households were still providing fuel for economic growth.
