consumer prices likely reversed course in august falling slightly as a drop in oil costs brought americans relief at the gas pump but don’t count on that modest deceleration in inflation to slow the federal reserve’s path forward anytime soon economists forecast that the us consumer price index dropped by 01 in the month and slowed to an 8 annual pace that would mark the second straight month of decelerating price growth after the cpi stayed flat in july and would bring the annual rate to its lowest level since february