 Measured from a year earlier, prices rose 2.6% last month, slightly less than in April. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core inflation rose 0.1% from April to May and 2.6% from 12 months earlier. Both figures were slight improvements on the previous month's data. The latest figures will likely be welcomed by the Fed's policymakers, who said they need to feel confident that inflation is slowing sustainably towards their 2% target before they'd start cutting interest rates.