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WASHINGTON, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- U.S. consumer prices roseslightly in July, indicating that muted inflation pressure mightcomplicate Federal Reserve's decision to raise interest rate.

Consumer Price Index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, edged up0.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in July, compared tozero growth in the previous month, said the Labor Department onFriday.

On a year-on-year basis, the index increased 1.7 percent,slightly higher than the 1.6 percent growth in June.

Food index went up 0.2 percent, compared to zero growth in June.The energy index fell 0.1 percent in the month following a 1.6percent decline in June.

Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, the so-calledcore CPI went up 0.1 percent in July on a seasonally adjustedbasis, and was up 1.7 percent over the year, the same growth as inJune.

The muted inflation pressure might complicate the Fed's interestrate hike decisions. Some Fed officials expected the inflation willrise in the future with the tightening labor market and supportedthe central bank to continue to raise interest rates gradually.

However, some remained cautious about the rate hikes and saidthat the impact from the tightening labor market on inflation mightbe limited.

Despite the weak inflation, the Fed is expected to start to winddown its 4.5-trillion-U.S. dollar balance sheet in September.

Market investors expected the central bank to raise interestrate again in December. Enditem