The Labor Department released the inflation report for December which showed prices were up 2.9% from a year ago, in line with economists expectations and up from 2.7% in November.

US inflation continued to heat up at the end of 2024. The consumer price index rose 2.9% year-over-year in December, above November's 2.7% rate.

U.S. consumer prices increased slightly more than expected in December amid higher costs for energy goods, pointing to still elevated inflation that aligns with the Federal Reserve's projections for fewer interest rate cuts this year.

However, excluding food and energy, the core CPI annual rate was 3.2%, a notch down from the month before and slightly better than the 3.3% forecast. The core measure rose 0.2% on a monthly basis, also 0.1 percentage point less than expected.

Wholesale prices rose less than expected in December, a positive sign for the economy amid recent market fears that inflation isn't falling as quickly as hoped to the Federal Reserve's 2% target.

Wholesale prices rose a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in December, half of what Wall Street forecasters believe would jump while the rate for the core producer price index over the same period remained flat,

Any uptick can fuel concerns among many economists and in financial markets that inflation has become stuck above the Fed's 2% target. That anxiety has sent interest rates on Trea

Inflation moved up for a third month in a row, rising two-tenths of a percentage point to 2.9% for the year ending in December, adding to signs that the Federal Reserve may have to keep interest rates higher for longer.

Inflation figures came in near as expected for December. Prices rose 0.4% percent and the year-over-year price index increased 2.9 percent. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics issued the December Consumer Price Index on Wednesday morning.