On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.2% in January from December, while core prices rose 0.3%.
The Federal Reserve pushed the pause button on its interest rate cuts, leaving its key rate unchanged after lowering it three times last year.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will attend the Supreme Court's oral argument Wednesday.
The data suggests that businesses are reluctant to add workers even as economic growth has picked up.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell warned after last week’s rate cut that the job market is even weaker than it appeared.
It would be the third cut in a row and bring the Fed's key rate to about 3.6%, the lowest in nearly three years.
Job openings have come down steadily since peaking at a record 12.1 million in March 2022.
For now, the U.S. job market appears stuck in a “low-hire, low-fire” state that has kept the unemployment rate historically low.
The Labor Department also said Thursday that the unemployment rate rose to 4.4% from 4.3% in August.