December U.S. Consumer Inflation Holds Steady as Expected

Meanwhile, core inflation's year-over-year rise slightly trailed economists' forecast.

U.S. consumer inflation held steady during December, according to figures released by the Labor Department on Jan. 13.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index showed that the topline CPI all items index rose 2.7% year-over-year — matching November and economists’ consensus expectations. Subindexes for food and energy increased 3.1% and 2.3%, respectively.

Month-over-month, December’s CPI rose 0.3% after a flat November and October. The CPI’s index for shelter rose 0.4% during December as the largest factor in the monthly increase. Meanwhile, the index for food and energy increased 0.7% and 0.3%, respectively.

Core inflation — which removes volatile food and energy categories — rose 2.6% year-over-year and 0.2% month-to-month. The YoY figure trailed economists’ 2.7% forecast.