With energy prices tumbling 20%, U.S. consumer prices were unchanged over the past 12 months, the lowest 12-month inflation rate since 1955, the Labor Department reported Friday. In January, the consumer price index rose 0.3% seasonally adjusted as expected, the government said, as energy prices rose 1.7%, the first increase since July. The core CPI - which strips out food and energy prices to get a better handle on underlying inflation trends - rose 0.2% seasonally adjusted in January compared with the 0.1% gain expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch.Over the past 12 months, the core CPI is up 1.7%, the lowest inflation since mid-2004.
