Investing.com - U.S. consumer prices recorded their biggest drop in eight months in September as the cost of gasoline fell, but a steady pick-up in underlying price pressures should allay fears that a disinflationary trend was reasserting itself.
The Labor Department said on Thursday its Consumer Price Index fell 0.2% last month after slipping 0.1% in August.
But the so-called core CPI, which strips out food and energy costs, rose 0.2% after ticking up 0.1% in August.
Low inflation, which has persistently run below the Federal Reserve's 2% target, is a major hurdle to an interest rate hike this year.
Expectations of a lift-off in the U.S. central bank's short-term interest rate have been dealt a blow by an abrupt slowdown in job growth in the last two months and softening economic activity because of a strong dollar, lower oil prices and a weakening global economy.