The Fed's preferred inflation measure rises, I'm Henry App with the Marketplace Minute.

An inflation index that Federal Reserve leaders pay close attention to rose 3 tenths of a percent last month,

core PCE, which measures prices excluding

food and energy, rose 2.8 percent compared to a year ago. That's a slightly

slower rate than in December and January. Both wholesalers and retailers grew their inventories last month by half a percent,

according to new data from the Census Bureau,

but over the past year retail inventories fell slightly

while wholesale inventories are up over 5%.

The same report shows the U.S. trade deficit widened slightly last month.

Imports to the U.S. outpaced exports by nearly 92 billion dollars, though both imports and exports

each grew by several billion dollars.

The federal government has sent an initial batch of emergency funding to Maryland as the state begins

cleanup from Tuesday's bridge collapse. The Department of

Transportation describes the $60 million is a down payment for the recovery

process. I'm Henry E App with the Marketplace Minute.