US consumer prices rose a modest 0.1% in August, in another sign that inflation was in check.
The core rate of the consumer price index, excluding food and energy, also rose 0.1%. Private economists had been predicting a 2% rise in both figures.
The CPI, the most widely used gauge of inflation at the consumer level, has risen 0.1% in each of the past three months. Over the first eight months of the year, prices were up 3.7%, but just 2.2% when the volatile food and energy components are removed.
Over the past 12 months, prices have risen 2.7% with the core inflation rate at 1.7%.
Energy costs fell 0.3% in August after dropping 1.9% in July. Within the energy sector, petrol prices fell 1.4%. Fuel oil costs rose 5.2%, the smallest increase since January. Food prices rose 0.1% in August after rising 0.3% in the previous month.
Within the core rate, an increase in rent payments was largely offset by declines in apparel, recreation and lodging away from home. Apparel prices fell 0.2% in August after dropping 0.8% in July. Recreation prices fell 0.2% for the second straight month. And airline fares fell 3.7% in August, the largest decline since June 1999. Hospital costs also fell a record 0.4% in August.
