This wasn’t a big surprise, with gas prices soaring in the last few weeks. From the Associated Press report:

The Labor Department says the consumer price index rose 0.4 percent in February, the largest increase in 10 months. Gas prices rose 6 percent to account for most of the gain. … Excluding food and energy, so-called “core” prices rose just 0.1 percent. In the past 12 months, consumer prices have risen 2.9 percent, the same year-over-year change as last month.

TIPS investors will get the benefit of the 0.4% increase, a mixed blessing but appreciated when overall interest rates are so low. That’s the reason we buy TIPS, to protect against inflation.