Economists are bracing for intensifying price pressures and slower growth, posing a challenge for the Federal Reserve.

As CPI report shows inflation continued at 2.8 percent in February, tariffs fueled worries of another recession, which President Donald Trump has declined to rule out.

Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core wholesale prices fell 0.1% last month from January, first drop since July. Core producer prices rose 3.4%, lower than the 3.8% year-over-year gain in January. The numbers were all lower than economists had expected.