Investing.com - Consumer price inflation (CPI) in the U.S. unexpectedly remained flat in January, while prices excluding food and energy costs inched up more than forecast, official data showed on Friday.
In a report, the U.S. Commerce Department said that consumer prices remained flat from a month earlier in January, compared to expectations for them to repeat the decline of 0.1% registered in December.
Year-over-year, consumer prices were 1.4% higher from the same month a year earlier, above expectations for a 1.3% increase and after having risen 0.7% in December.
Consumer prices, excluding food and energy costs, increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.3%, above forecasts for a gain of 0.2%. Core CPI rose 0.2% in December.
Core CPI increased at annualized rate of 2.2% last month, slightly above expectations for a 2.1% rise.
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.
After the report, EUR/USD was trading at 1.1069 from around 1.1097 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.4250 from 1.4272 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 113.17 from 112.98 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 97.12, compared to 96.96 ahead of the report.