Stock prices tumbled Tuesday after the Labor Department’s inflation reading for January came in hotter than expected, suggesting the Federal Reserve may start cutting interest rates later rather than sooner. But the news that inflation is proving sticky won’t surprise most Americans.

 

The consumer-price index rose 0.3% in January and 3.1% over the last year. Excluding food and energy, core prices have increased 3.9% year-over-year. That’s progress from a year or two ago. Prices for goods have fallen over the last year, which is good news if you’re looking to buy a used car or washing machine.  But January’s 0.4% monthly increase in the core inflation index (sans food and energy) is the highest since last May. Some analysts blame the government’s measurement of housing, which rises and falls with a lag. Owners’ equivalent rent rose 0.6% in January. More startling was the 2.4% increase in hotel and lodging prices, which had declined for most of last year.