By MATT OTT | Associated Press

SILVER SPRING, Md. — U.S. consumer confidence declined modestly this month but remains high, even as prices for just about everything continue to rise.

The Conference Board, a business research group, said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index — which takes into account consumers’ assessment of current conditions and the their outlook for the future — ticked down to 110.5 in February from 111.1 in January.

The Conference Board’s present situation index, which measures consumers’ assessment of current business and labor conditions, rose slightly this month to 145.1 from 144.5 in January.

The expectations index, based on consumers’ six-month outlook for income, business and labor market conditions, slipped to 87.5 in February from 88.8 in January.

Consumer confidence remains high in the U.S. despite surging prices for virtually everything. Earlier this month, the Labor Department reported that for the 12 months ending in January, inflation hit 7.5% — the fastest year-over-year pace since 1982.

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