MEXICO CITY, Dec 8 Reuters Mexican consumer prices rose 7.8 in the year through November, slowing down from the previous month to reach its lowest level since May even as the core index remains a concern, data from national statistics agency INEGI showed on Thursday.

Annual inflation in Latin America39;s secondlargest economy came in below market forecasts, as economists polled by Reuters had expected it to hit 7.93 in November, after standing at 8.41 in the previous month.

Overall, this is a relatively good report, said Pantheon Macroeconomics39; chief Latin America economist Andres Abadia, noting that headline inflation continued to ease thanks to the lagged effect of tighter financial conditions.

Soaring costs have led Mexico39;s central bank to push for an aggressive monetary tightening since June 2021 and despite cooling down, inflation remains well above the central bank39;s target of 3 plus or minus 1 percentage point.

The Bank of Mexico will hold its next monetary policy meeting next week, with the benchmark interest rate currently standing at a record 10 after a split decision last month.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.58 in November, according to nonseasonally adjusted figures, below market consensus of 0.69.

The core index, which strips out some volatile food and energy prices and has been a major concern in the country, rose 0.45 during the month, also below forecasts of 0.52.

That represented a deceleration from October, when it had…