Inflation cooled in November on an annual basis, bolstering investor hopes that the Federal Reserve is done hiking interest rates to combat rising prices and could start cutting rates next year.
According to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, prices rose 3.1% over the prior year in November, a slight deceleration from October’s 3.2% annual gain. Prices ticked up slightly at 0.1% over last month.
Economists had expected the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to come in flat month-over-month and rise 3.2% year-over-year, according to data from Bloomberg.
As expected, lower energy costs held the headline figures to a smaller gain, with energy prices dropping 2.3% month-over-month and 5.4% on an annual basis. This was dragged down by falling gas prices, which declined 6.0% during the month of November.
On a “core” basis, which strips out the more volatile costs of food and gas,…
