The recent data related to consumer prices and inflation, released by the US authorities has brought some good news for the countrymen. The consumer prices in the US have risen but not as high as expected. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) shot up by 2.6% in the last one year.

The CPI for January 2010 rose by a mere 0.2% which was lesser than what was forecasted by analysts (0.3%). The prices of energy shot up 2.8% while the food prices increased by 0.2%.  

But interestingly, the core inflation (which excludes energy and food prices) in the country actually fell for the first time in the last 28 years of time span (after the economic recession in 1982).

It fell by 0.1% in the month of January 2010. The major reasons for this fall are falling housing and vehicles costs and declining airline ticket prices in the US. For the records the housing cost in US for the month of January fell by a considerable 0.5%.

This benevolence in the inflationary indicators has given the US Federal Reserve a reason to keep its lending rates at very low levels viz. 0.25%. Ben Bernanke, Chairman, US Fed Reserve admitted that these rate may remain low in the near future.