The consumer price index (CPI) for January was flat.
But that's compared to the prior month. Year-on-year, CPI rose 2.2%, beating the estimate for a 2.1% increase.
Economists had estimated that the headline index fell 0.1% month-on-month, while it climbed 1.3% compared to January 2015 according to Bloomberg.
Excluding volatile food and energy costs, they had estimated that "core" CPI rose 0.2% compared to the prior month, and 2.1% year-on-year.
This reading will be examined for evidence of whether inflation is moving closer to the Fed's 2% target, even as it's held back by transitory factors, as chair Janet Yellen has said.
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