Consumer prices dip as gas prices fall but core prices jump 0.3% in Feb.

Inflation was tempered again in February by plunging gasoline prices but a measure of core prices posted a solid increase for a second straight month.

The rise in core inflation, which exclude food and energy items, could provide the Federal Reserve more ammunition to raise interest rates by June. The Fed, however, didn't bump up its benchmark rate at its meeting that ended Wednesday.

The consumer price index slipped 0.2%, the Labor Department said Wednesday, matching economists’ estimates. The index was up 1% over the past year.

Excluding volatile food and gasoline, so-called core inflation rose 0.3%, more than the 0.2% rise economists expected. The measure was up 2.3% the past 12 months, the largest annual increase since May 2012.

Gasoline prices fell a whopping 13% in February, though they have risen in recent weeks along with oil prices. Regular unleaded averaged $1.95 a gallon Tuesday, up from $1.70 a month ago but still below the year-ago price of $2.43, according to AAA.

Prices for virtually all other categories rose noticeably. Americans’ grocery bill increased 0.2% while apparel prices jumped 1.6%; medical care, 0.5%; rent, 0.3%; new vehicles, 0.2%; and airline fares, 0.1%.

U.S. consumers have benefited from cheap oil and gasoline and, until recently, a strong dollar that has pushed down import prices. But weak inflation can be a sign of a listless economy and lead consumers to put off purchases.

Fed officials believe the effects of a strong dollar and low oil prices are transitory, and so are focusing on the path of core inflation. They’re looking for that reading to accelerate before raising the central bank’s benchmark interest rate again after lifting it in December for the first time in nine years. February’s advance provides additional evidence that trend may be picking up steam.