The French consumer price index for December showed a rise of 0.1 pct on the month, compared with fall of 0.2 pct in November, according to figures from the Insee statistics office Year-on-year, December CPI was up 1.5 pct, against a rise of 1.6 pct in November Economists polled by AFX News had expected a drop of 0.2 pct month-on-month and a rise of 1.6 pct year-on-year Underlying core inflation, which excludes products with either regulated or highly volatile prices, was 0.1 pct in December, the same as in November Food increased 0.4 pct on the month, tobacco was unchanged, manufactured goods declined 0.1 pct, energy was down 1.4 pct and services were up 0.4 pct The harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) calculated to allow comparison with other EU members was up 0.2 pct month-on-month and rose 1.8 pct over the year