CNN: The annual rate of inflation slowed to an eight-month low last month, new data showed Friday.

Consumer prices rose 2.4% for the 12 months ending in January, a sharp cooling from the 2.7% rate notched in December, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest Consumer Price Index. On a monthly basis, prices rose a better-than-expected 0.2%, a deceleration from December.

Economists had forecast a 0.3% monthly increase, which would bring the annual rate to 2.5%, an expectedly cooler reading that benefited from “base effects,” or comparisons to last year when inflation was running higher.

For similar reasons, the core CPI gauge – a closely watched measurement of underlying inflation that excludes volatile food and energy prices – also saw its annual rate of inflation ease. Core CPI slowed to 2.5%, which marks its lowest rate since March 2021, right before the pandemic-era inflationary spike.