内容摘要：Regional officials say the rose industry is a prime example of sustainable development because the flowers are well-adapted to the climate and rooted in the culture — music, dance and celebrations like weddings.

Regional officials say the rose industry is a prime example of sustainable development because the flowers are well-adapted to the climate and rooted in the culture — music, dance and celebrations like weddings.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Inflation picked up last month and consumers barely raised their spending, signs that the economy was already cooling even beforefrom the Commerce Department showed that consumer prices increased 2.5% in February from a year earlier, matching January’s annual pace. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose 2.8% compared with a year ago, higher than January’s figure of 2.7%.

Economists watch core prices because they are typically a better guide of where inflation is headed. The core index has barely changed in the past year. Inflation remains above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, making it difficult for the central bank to cut its key interest rateThe report also showed that consumer spending rebounded last month after falling by the most in four years in January. Yet much of the additional spending reflected price increases, with inflation-adjusted spending barely rising. The weak figure suggests growth is rapidly slowing in the first three months of this year as consumers and businesses turn cautious amid sharp changes in government policies.“Inflation too hot and spending too cold,” said Stephen Brown, an economist at Capital Economics, a consulting firm, in an email. “The Fed is unlikely to cut interest rates this year.”

Brown estimates that economic growth could fall to zero in the first three months of this year,in last year’s fourth quarter.

Inflation remains a top economic concern for most Americans, even as it has fallen sharply from its 2022 peak. Donald Trump rode dissatisfaction with higher prices to the presidency and promised to quickly bring down inflation, but the yearly rate is higher now than in September, when it briefly touched 2.1%.

Consumer spending rose 0.4% in February, though the gain was just 0.1% after adjusting for prices. The mild increase follows a sharp 0.6% drop in January.Firefighters watch a helicopter drop water on the Palisades Fire in Mandeville Canyon in Los Angeles, Jan. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Ice in the Arctic — which will continue to warm 3.5 times faster than the rest of the world — will melt and seas will rise faster, Hewitt said.What tends to happen is that global temperatures rise like riding on an escalator, with temporary and natural El Nino weather cycles acting like jumps up or down on that escalator, scientists said. But lately, after each jump from an

the planet doesn’t go back down much, if at all.“Record temperatures immediately become the new normal,” said Stanford University climate scientist Rob Jackson.