FINANCIAL TIMES: US consumer prices had their biggest monthly fall in six years in December, complicating the Federal Reserve’s deliberations over the timing of an interest rate rise.
The consumer price index dropped 0.4 per cent, the biggest one-month decline since December 2008, pulled lower by plunging energy costs, the Department of Labor said. The annual headline rate of consumer price inflation receded to 0.8 per cent in the year to December, compared with 1.3 per cent in the year to November…
Offsetting the short-term numbers, longer-term inflation expectations among households remained stable, according to a separate report on Friday, offering some comfort to Fed officials. The University of Michigan consumer sentiment index rose to its highest level since 2004 and inflation was seen at around 2.8 per cent over the next five to 10 years, equal to the previous month… (more)
