U.S. core CPI stays 0.1% in December

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Consumer prices in the U.S. remained stable in line with economists predictions in the last month of 2012 as food prices and energy costs increased, the Labor Department reported on Wednesday. Seasonally adjusted consumer price index recorded 0.3% in December, while costs rose 1.7% in 2012 following a 3% gain the year before. The core index excluding food and energy costs added 0.1% for the fifth time in a 6-month period.

Price gauges "are all sending a pretty consistent message of contained inflation pressures," said Daniel Silver, an economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. The Fed's monetary policy is "on track, definitely from the inflation front," he added.