U.S. Consumer Prices Fall Much More Than Expected In June

(RTTNews) - Largely reflecting a sharp pullback in energy prices, the Labor Department released a report on Tuesday showing consumer prices in the U.S. decreased by much more than expected in the month of June.

The Labor Department said its consumer price index fell by 0.4 percent in June after climbing by 0.5 percent in May. Economists had expected consumer prices to edge down by 0.1 percent.

The report also said the annual rate of consumer price growth slowed to 3.5 percent in June from 4.2 percent in May, coming in below economist estimates for a 3.8 percent jump.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy prices, came in unchanged in June after rising by 0.2 percent in May. Economists had expected core prices to increase by another 0.2 percent.

The annual rate of growth by core consumer prices slowed to 2.6 percent in June from 2.9 percent in May, while economists had expected the pace of growth to slip to 2.8 percent.