Australia: Inflation decelerates in February from the prior month
Latest reading: Consumer prices rose 3.7% on a year-on-year basis in February, following a 3.8% increase in the prior month. However, the reading was above the Central Bank’s target of 2–3%.
Relative to the prior month’s data, there were reduced price pressures for clothing (+4.9% in annual terms vs +5.5% in January) and transportation (-0.2% vs +1.1% in January). In contrast, price pressures were higher for housing in February (+7.3% vs +6.7% in January).
Finally, consumer prices were down 0.02% in February on a month-on-month basis, following a 0.36% increase in the prior month.