U.S. June Consumer Prices Rise 0.2% as Gasoline Fell

" Consumer prices in the U.S. rose 0.2 percent in June, the smallest gain in five months, as gasoline prices retreated from a record.

The increase in the consumer price index followed a 0.7 percent rise in May, the Labor Department said today in Washington. Core prices, which exclude food and energy, rose 0.2 percent and were up 2.2 percent from a year earlier.

The figures come less than two hours before Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke is scheduled to testify before Congress on the state of the economy. Signs that price increases may have peaked will reassure policy makers, who last month said inflation remained their "predominant'' concern. "

Source: U.S. June Consumer Prices Rise 0.2% as Gasoline Fell (Update1) (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=avXSWGECqhRU&refer=home)