'a flat reading' is correct and can be used in written English.
It is often used in the context of literature or drama to describe the delivery of a line or speech in an unemotional or deadpan manner. For example, "Her flat reading of the last line made the audience laugh."
Economists expected a flat reading.
The decline followed a flat reading in the Producer Price Index in July.
Incomes were up 0.5 percent, better than a 0.2 percent rise in July and a flat reading in June.
But adjusted for inflation, compensation rose only 1.6percentt against a flat reading in the first quarter.
Sales fell 0.4% in January (against expectations of a flat reading), and were unchanged if you stripped out sales of new cars.
Dan Greenhaus, chief economic strategist for Miller Tabak & Company, said his firm already expected the Federal Reserve to start a second round of quantitative easing "toward the end of this year or beginning of next, and a flat reading on core inflation only increases those odds".
On its own, illustrated with careful detail and deftly shifting perspectives, "One Small Place in a Tree" is a flat read.
He argues that the declines in rents, lodging away from home and apparel, which tipped the balance toward a flat core reading rather than a 0.1% reading, will persist.
The flat reading was a result of a drop in energy and food prices, which more than offset increased prices for cars, paper products and books.
Hanfeng, however, could envision himself living a bachelor's life in his mother's flat, reading the same newspapers and comparing notes on the stories that interested them both, wandering freely through the flat when she went out for her piano lessons twice a week.
Smith chose voice actors for the project who had stage and film acting experience, in an attempt to avoid the common problem of "flat" reading he felt was prevalent in video game voice acting.
