This increase is higher than the average annual rate of 1.9
percent over the past 10 years.
The Federal Reserve has a 2 percent inflation target and
tracks an inflation measure which is currently at 1.6 percent.
Concerns about persistently low inflation contributed to the
U.S. central bank keeping interest rates unchanged last month.
The Fed raised its benchmark overnight interest rate in
December for the first time in nearly a decade.