Investing.com - Consumer price inflation in the U.S. rose in line with expectations in December, while prices excluding food and energy costs also inched up modestly, official data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the U.S. Department of Labor said that consumer prices rose by as a seasonally adjusted 0.3% last month, matching forecasts, after holding flat in November.
Year-over-year, consumer prices rose at an annualized rate of 1.5% in December, in line with expectations and up from 1.2% in November.
Consumer prices, excluding food and energy costs, inched up by a seasonally adjusted 0.1% last month, meeting estimates. Core consumer prices rose 0.2% in November. Core CPI increased at annualized rate of 1.7% in December, unchanged from November and in line with expectations.
Core prices are viewed by the Federal Reserve as a better gauge of longer-term inflationary pressure because they exclude the volatile food and energy categories. The central bank usually tries to aim for 2% core inflation or less.
Following the release of the data, the U.S. dollar inched lower against the euro, with EUR/USD adding 0.13% to trade at 1.3622, compared to 1.3604 ahead of the data.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a loss of 0.3% at the open, S&P 500 futures dipped 0.3%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a downtick of 0.25% at the open.