The Consumer Price Index, a measure of what consumers pay for goods and services, rose 7.1 percent year over year; the report showed a dramatic drop from the October mark of 7.7 percent.
The CPI increased 0.1 percent from the prior month, compared with 0.4 percent in October. The energy index decreased 1.6 percent over the month, according to a Dec. 13 U.S Bureau of Labour Statistics news release.
The better-than-expected report comes as the Federal Reserve meets this week and deliberates whether to pull back on its hawkish inflation strategy.
Read the full report here.