U.S. consumer prices increased as expected in October, and progress toward bringing inflation down has slowed since mid-year, which could result in fewer interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve next year. The consumer price index rose 0.2% for the fourth straight month, the Labor Department said on Wednesday. In the 12 months through October, the CPI advanced 2.6% after climbing 2.4% in September. The headline numbers were predicted by economists polled by Reuters. The uptick in annual inflation also reflects last year's low reading dropping out of the calculation. CPI excluding food and energy increased 0.3% in October, rising by the same margin for the third consecutive month. In the 12 months through October, the so-called core CPI gained 3.3%. That followed a similar advance in September.
Source: Reuters