U.S. Consumer Price Growth Falls Short Of Estimates In May

Consumer prices in the U.S. rose by slightly less than expected in the month of May, the Labor Department revealed in a report on Thursday.

The Labor Department said its consumer price index edged up by 0.2 percent in May after climbing by 0.4 percent in April. Economists had expected prices to rise by 0.3 percent.

The uptick in consumer prices was partly due to a continued increase in energy prices, which jumped by 1.2 percent in May after spiking by 3.4 percent in April.

The gasoline index surged up by 2.3 percent during the month, while the indexes for fuel oil and natural gas also advanced.

On the other hand, the report said food prices dipped by 0.2 percent in May after rising by 0.2 percent in April All six major grocery store food group indexes declined.

Excluding food and energy prices, the core consumer price index rose by 0.2 percent, matching the increase seen in the previous month as well as economist estimates.

The continued core price growth reflected a 0.4 percent increase by the shelter index as well as higher prices for medical care, apparel, motor vehicle insurance, and education.

The increases more than offset lower prices for used cars and trucks, communications, household furnishings and operations, airline fares, and new vehicles.

On an annual basis, the pace of consumer price growth slowed to 1.0 percent in May from 1.1 percent in April, but the pace of core price growth accelerated to 2.2 percent from 2.1 percent.

Jay Morelock, an economist at FTN Financial, said, "As the last of three major price indexes released this week, the CPI confirms the messages from import prices and the PPI: Inflation is mixed."

"Until inflation becomes more wide-spread, the Fed will hesitate to follow through on their overly optimistic dot plot," he added.

The Labor Department released a separate report on Wednesday showing a slightly bigger than expected increase in U.S. producer prices in the month of May.

The report said producer prices climbed by 0.4 percent in May after edging up by 0.2 percent in April. Economists had expected prices to rise by 0.3 percent.

Core producer prices, which exclude food and energy prices, rose by 0.3 percent in May after inching up by 0.1 percent in April. Core prices had been expected to tick up by another 0.1 percent.

Despite the monthly increase, the headline producer price index was down by 0.1 percent year-over-year in May after coming in unchanged in April.

Meanwhile, the annual rate of core producer price growth accelerated to 1.2 percent in May from 0.9 percent in the previous month.