U.S. consumer nflation moderated in June. The consumer price index rose 0.3% last month, half the rate recorded in May, the Labor Department said today.

Meanwhile, consumer sentiment improved slightly in a mid-July reading. Also, the Labor Department said the average weekly earnings of U.S. workers decreased last month.

Moderating food and energy prices accounted for much of the slowdown in inflation. The closely watched core index, which excludes those items, was up 0.1%, the smallest increase this year.

Economists had expected increases of 0.2% in both the overall and core indexes.

“This morning’s U.S. consumer price index report for June came in on the low side of expectations, which should help ease concern that the Federal Reserve Board may be behind the curve in staving off a rise in U.S. inflation,” said Gillian Manning, an economist with TD Economics, in a statement.

“The bottom line from today’s data is that U.S. inflation is not galloping ahead,” she added.

Energy prices climbed 2.6% last month, well below May’s 4.6% pace; gasoline prices rose 3.1%, less than half May’s 8.1% surge. Food prices rose 0.2% after a 0.9% gain; the cost of dairy products, which had helped drive up overall food prices in May, rose 1.7% after a 6.8% increase.

In a separate report, the Labor Department said the average weekly earnings of U.S. workers, adjusted for inflation, decreased by 0.8% in June as a 0.1% increase in average hourly earnings was more than offset by a 0.6% decline in average weekly hours and a 0.3% increase in the consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers.

A third report showed consumers’ assessment of the U.S. economy ticked higher in July. The University of Michigan said its consumer-sentiment index rose to 96 this month from 95.6 in June. The report, a preliminary reading for the month, was the best since the 103.8 recorded in January.