U.S. consumer price inflation likely to have accelerated in December on higher gasoline prices

The U.S. consumer price inflation data for the month of December is set to release tomorrow. According to a TD Economics research report, the headline inflation is expected to have accelerated to 0.3 percent sequentially on higher gasoline prices. Furthermore, gasoline prices were dropping a year ago, so the 12-month change in the overall index is expected to rise to 2.4 percent from 2.1 percent.

The core inflation is expected to have risen 0.2 percent sequentially in December. The 12-month change in the core possibly held at 2.3 percent, although it is a close call between 2.3 percent and 2.4 percent.

“The 12-month change in core prices was 2.2 percent in December 2018, so there has been slight acceleration in the past year”, added TD Economics.