Washington ? A big drop in gas prices pushed consumer costs down for a second straight month, and factories staged a modest rebound – signs the Federal Reserve is managing to stem inflation without pushing the country into recession.

Consumer prices dropped by a bigger-than-expected 0.5 percent last month, matching the September decline, the Labor Department reported Thursday. It marked the first back-to-back decreases in consumer inflation since November and December of last year.

In a second report, the Federal Reserve said industrial output staged a slight increase of 0.2 percent in October despite a second month of production cutbacks at auto factories and weakness in various industries that supply homebuilding.

The reports were seen as evidence that inflation pressures, which had been rising due to the spike in energy prices, were beginning to recede in response to an economy that is slowing.

“The economy is performing right on cue. Inflation is moderating, growth has slowed, but the expansion remains firmly in place,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Economy.com. “I think the Federal Reserve couldn’t be happier.”

The 0.5 percent fall in consumer prices last month was better than the 0.3 percent decrease many analysts had expected. Also, core inflation, which excludes volatile energy and food prices, was well-behaved, rising by just 0.1 percent, the smallest gain in eight months.

The Fed is hoping that 17 consecutive interest rate increases will produce a soft landing for the economy in which business growth slows enough to reduce inflation pressures without threatening a recession.

Fed officials have their last meeting of the year Dec. 12. Private economists said this week’s benign inflation readings should allow the central bank to keep rates unchanged for a third straight meeting.

The government also reported Thursday that the slowdown in inflation provided a boost to Americans’ weekly incomes, which were up by 3.2 percent in October compared with a year ago, after discounting inflation.