US consumer prices fell in May pulled down by falling petrol prices.
But the core inflation indicator picked up speed for the third consecutive month, the Labor department said today.
The broad consumer price index fell 0.3%, taking the year on year rate to 1.7%.
But stripping out more volatile fuel and food prices, the core CPI - a key reference for the Federal Reserve's interest rate-setting policies - rose by 0.2% - the same pace as the last two months.
US jobless claims rise
New claims for US unemployment benefits rose last week, building on a worrying upward trend in the pace of layoffs, the government said today.
The Labor Department reported 386,000 jobless claims were filed in the week ending June 9, an increase of 6,000 claims from the prior week's upwardly revised number.
The four-week moving average of new claims, an indicator of the trend in layoffs, increased by 3,500 to 382,000.
Jobless claims were well above the 368,000 low reached in late April amid a sluggish economy that has kept businesses hesitant to add new jobs.
The unemployment rate was 8.2% in May and the US added only 69,000 jobs, by far the smallest number of payrolls in a year.
