Inflation slowed on an annual basis for a sixth straight month in December, a relief for households and an encouraging signal for the Federal Reserve and the White House that the worst of America’s pandemic-induced inflation burst may be in the past.The Consumer Price Index climbed 6.5 percent in the year through last month, down from 7.1 percent in the November reading, as prices declined on a monthly basis for the first time in more than two years. The annual inflation rate was the slowest since October 2021, a pullback driven by falling gas prices and cheaper airfares.Economists and Fed officials are more acutely focused on a so-called core inflation measure, which removes food and fuel pr …
