Investing.com - Consumer price inflation in the U.S. ticked lower in August while prices excluding food and energy costs remained steady, official data showed on Wednesday.
The Commerce Department said consumer prices edged down by a seasonally adjusted 0.1% last month, in line with forecasts following a 0.1% increase in July.
Consumer prices inched up 0.2% on a year-over-year basis, in line with expectations.
Core consumer prices, which strip out volatile food and energy costs, increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.1%, also in line with the consensus forecast and were 0.2% higher from the same month a year earlier.
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.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 95.75, compared to 95.87 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a flat open. The Dow futures pointed to a loss of 0.01%, the S&P 500 futures inched down 0.06%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures dipped 0.02%.