An inflation guage favored by the Federal Reserve increased in January, the latest sign the slowdown in U.S. consumer price increases is occurring unevenly from month to month. Prices rose 0.3 percent from December to January, up from 0.1 percent the previous month. But, retired Ripon College economist Paul Schoofs says a more encouraging sign is that prices were up just 2.4 percent from a year earlier, down from a 2.6 percent annual pace in December. Even though average paychecks have outpaced inflation over the past year, many Americans remain frustrated that overall prices are still well above where they were before inflation erupted.
