Yet both measures have largely become stuck at the levels reached last summer, when a retreat in inflation largely stalled after dropping steeply its peak of 9.1% in June 2022. Stubborn inflation would create political problems for Trump, who promised as a candidate to “knock the hell out of inflation.”

The consumer price index increased 2.8 percent in February from a year ago, Wednesday’s report from the Labor Department showed, down from 3 percent the previous month.

American trading partners responded swiftly to President Trump’s latest round of levies with countermeasures, creating more uncertainty for C.E.O.s.