U.S. Inflation
Is Inflation Cooling?
U.S. consumer prices increased by the most in nine months in December amid higher costs for energy goods, pointing to still-elevated inflation that aligns with the Federal Reserve's projections for fewer interest rate cuts this year. There were, however, some hopeful signs in the fight against inflation, with the report from the Labor Department on Wednesday showing a measure of underlying price pressures subsiding after barely budging for four straight months. That raised prospects of tame monthly readings in the inflation gauges watched by the U.S. central bank for its 2% target and prompted financial markets to bet on a rate cut in June.