The Consumer Price Index rose 2.9 percent from a year earlier, but a measure of underlying inflation was more encouraging.

U.S. consumers' outlook on the expected path of inflation was mixed in December amid rising worries about households' ability to make debt payments, a survey by the New York Federal Reserve showed on Monday.

The Consumer Price Index ticked up by 0.4% in December, but a measure that excludes food and energy prices slowed for the first time in four months, the Labor Department said on Wednesday. Why it matters: Inflation resumed a cooling trend after a months-long interruption,