SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian consumer price inflation slowed to a three-year low in August due to government rebates on electricity and a drop in petrol, while core inflation hit its lowest since early 2022 in a sign costs were cooling albeit gradually.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday showed its monthly consumer price index (CPI) rose at an annual pace of 2.7% in August, down from 3.5% in July and dead in line with market forecasts.

A closely watched measure of core inflation, the trimmed mean, slowed to an annual 3.4%, from 3.8%, leaving it above the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) 2-3% target band and a hurdle to cuts in interest rates.

(Reporting by Wayne Cole; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)