The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that consumer prices in the United States increased last month, signalling that inflation remains a challenge for the Federal Reserve and for President Joe Biden's re-election campaign. An Associated Press dispatch to The Globe reports that the Fed and President Biden are hoping for a steady easing of price pressures this year. Prices rose 0.4 per cent from January to February, higher than December's figure of 0.3 per cent, the Labour Department said Tuesday. Compared with a year earlier, consumer prices rose 3.2 per cent last month, above January's 3.1 per cent annual pace. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called "core" prices also climbed 0.4 per cent from January to February, matching the previous month's rise and a faster pace than is consistent with the Fed's 2-per-cent inflation target. AB economist Eric Winograd says: "It's a disappointment, but not a disaster. The underlying details are more encouraging than the top-line number, which was boosted by a few volatile categories -- the type of prices that tend not to repeat month to month." Despite February's elevated figures, most economists expect inflation to continue slowly declining this year.