With a steep drop in gasoline prices partly offsetting a continued increase in shelter prices, the Labor Department released a report on Wednesday showing U.S. consumer prices were unexpectedly flat in the month of May.
The Labor Department said its consumer price index came in unchanged in May after rising by 0.3 percent in April. Economists had expected consumer prices to inch up by 0.1 percent.
Excluding food and energy prices, core consumer prices rose by 0.2 percent in May after climbing by 0.3 percent in April. Core prices were expected to increase by another 0.3 percent.
Meanwhile, the report said the annual rate of consumer price growth slowed to 3.3 percent in May from 3.4 percent in April. Economists had expected the pace of growth to remain unchanged.
The annual rate of core consumer price growth also slowed to 3.4 percent in May from 3.6 percent in April. The pace of growth was expected to dip to 3.5 percent.
At 10:30 am ET, the Energy Information Administration is due to release its report on oil inventories in the week ended June 7th.
Crude oil inventories are expected to decrease by 1.8 million barrels after rising by 1.2 million barrels in the previous week.
The Federal Reserve is scheduled to announce its monetary policy decision at 2 pm ET, followed by Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s post-meeting press conference at 2:30 pm ET.