U.S. consumer prices expanded at a faster pace in last December, indicating inflationary pressure is gradually building up.

Consumer Price Index (CBI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 0.3 percent in December on a seasonally adjusted basis, compared to 0.2 percent growth in the previous month, said the Labor Department on Wednesday.

On a year-on-year basis, the index increased 2.1 percent, up from November's 1.7 percent increase.

Food index remained unchanged for six consecutive months by December, while the energy index grew 1.5 percent in the month, higher than November' s 1.2 percent.

Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, the so-called core CPI went up 0.2 percent in December on a seasonally adjusted basis, and was up 2.2 percent over the year, slightly higher than the 2.1 percent growth in November.

Economists and market investors are expecting that the inflation in U.S. will pick up growth pace this year on the expectation that the new fiscal stimulus possibly rolled out by the new administration might push up inflation.

Lael Brainard, a member of the Board of Governors of the U.S. Federal Reserve, said on Tuesday that the central bank may accelerate interest rate hikes, if new fiscal policy mix introduced by the new Administration and Congress boosts inflation.

source: Xinhua