Inflation held steady at 2.4 percent in February before Iran war outbreak

The annual inflation rate held steady in February, according to data released Wednesday by the Labor Department, before the war in Iran drove energy prices higher and threatened to upend the global economy.

Consumer prices rose 0.3 percent in February and were up 2.4 percent over the past year, as measured by the Labor Department’s consumer price index (CPI). The annual and monthly inflation figures matched economist expectations, according to consensus estimates.

The new inflation report is a snapshot of the economy as tensions between the U.S. and Iran rose, but before they spilled over into a full-blown military conflict in March. In the........

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