U.S. consumer prices rose by a slight 0.3% in February despite high prices for gasoline and heating oil.

The increase in the consumer price index, however, marked a slowdown from the 0.5% jump registered in January, the Labour Department said today.

Excluding energy and food costs, “core” consumer prices rose by just 0.2 % in February for the second month in a row. That suggested the prices for many goods and services were fairly stable.

In annual terms, the core rate edged up to 1.2%.

The U.S. Federal Reserve, in its policy statement released yesterday, said said inflation is not a problem for the American economy. That’s one of the main reasons that Fed held short-term interest rates at a 45-year low of 1%.

However, economists are divided on the impact of the February CPI reading.

BMO Nesbitt Burns says that the reading is “modestly on the bearish side”, noting, “That’s two in a row for upside core readings.”

“Today’s uptick in core inflation should be regarded as another nail in the coffin for deflation talk. Indeed, upside inflation pressures are building as evidenced by rising commodity prices and the prices components of various regional business sentiment indicators,” comments RBC Financial. “To be sure, however, inflation will remain low until the economy ultimately bumps up into capacity constraints — which should eventually happen as the economy continues to expand at an above trend pace.”

CIBC World Markets says that the core CPI inflation trend remains muted, despite the slightly hotter-than-expected monthly increase. “While that may start the inflation bears chattering, a deeper look into the details reveals that there is little new in core prices pressures, and a 1.2%yearly rate is still in the range of levels not seen since the mid-1960s,” it notes.