US consumer prices remained unchanged in May, a reassuring development ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decisions later today.

The Labor Department announced Wednesday morning that the consumer price index (CPI) remained stable last month, after rising by 0.3% in April.

Analysts were expecting a further rise of 0.1% in May.

The so-called core CPI, which excludes volatile items such as food and energy, rose by 0.2% last month, in line with expectations, following a gain of 0.3% the previous month.

Over the 12 months to the end of May, CPI posted growth of 3.3%, compared with 3.4% in April, while core CPI rose by 3.4%, still a long way from the Fed's 2% target, but a step in the right direction.

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