US inflation continued to slow in December, adding to evidence price pressures have peaked and offering the Federal Reserve room to slow the pace of interest-rate hikes next month. From a report: Excluding food and energy, the consumer price index rose 0.3% last month and was up 5.7% from a year earlier, according to a Labor Department report Thursday. Economists see the gauge — known as the core CPI — as a better indicator of underlying inflation than the headline measure. The overall CPI fell 0.1% from the prior month, with cheaper energy costs fueling the first decline in 2 1/2 years. The measure was up 6.5% from a year earlier.

US stock futures dropped before paring losses and Treasuries fluctuated. All of the figures matched the median estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The data, when paired with prior months’ lower-than-expected readings, point to more consistent signs that inflation is easing and may pave the way for the Fed to downshift to a quarter-point hike at their next meeting ending Feb. 1. That said, the central bank’s work is far from over. Resilient consumer demand, particularly for services, paired with a tight labor market threaten to keep upward pressure on prices.

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Source: Slashdot – US Inflation Cools Again, Giving Fed Room To Downshift on Rates