PEOPLE SHOP at an Apple store in the Westfield Garden State Plaza mall in Paramus, New Jersey. Friday’s report from the Commerce Department showed that consumer prices rose 0.3% from January to February, down from a 0.6% increase from December to January. / ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO / TED SHAFFREY
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Federal Reserve's favored inflation gauge slowed sharply last month, an encouraging sign in the Fed's yearlong effort to cool price pressures through steadily higher interest rates. Friday's report from the Commerce Department showed that consumer prices rose 0.3% from January to February, down from a 0.6% increase from December to January.…