US CPI steady, gives Fed room on rates

US consumer prices were unchanged for a third straight month in January, leading to the smallest annual increase in inflation in more than one-and-a-half years, which could allow the Federal Reserve to hold interest rates steady for a while.

The Labor Department said yesterday its Consumer Price Index last month was held down by cheaper gasoline, which offset increases in the cost of food and rents.

In the 12 months through January, the CPI rose 1.6 percent, the smallest gain since June 2017. The CPI increased 1.9 percent on a year-on-year basis in December.

Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the CPI gained 0.2 percent, rising by the same margin for a fifth straight month. In the 12 months through January, the so-called core CPI rose 2.2 percent for a third straight month.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the CPI edging up 0.1 percent in January and the core CPI rising 0.2 percent.

The steady increases in the core CPI likely do not signal a material shift in underlying inflation. The Fed, which has a 2 percent inflation target, tracks a different measure, the core personal consumption expenditures price index, for monetary policy.

The core PCE price index increased 1.9 percent on a year-on-year basis in November after rising 1.8 percent in October. It hit 2 percent in March last year for the first time since April 2012.

The December PCE price data will be released on March 1. It was delayed by a five-week partial shutdown of the federal government. The Fed kept interest rates unchanged last month.

(Reuters)