U.S. consumers' outlook on the expected path of inflation was mixed in December amid rising worries about households' ability to make debt payments, a survey by the New York Federal Reserve showed on Monday.

The Consumer Price Index rose 2.9 percent from a year earlier, but a measure of underlying inflation was more encouraging.

Annual inflation ticked up for a third straight month in December as food, energy costs rose, CPI report showed. But underlying price measure eased.