The consumer price index rose 0.2% in January, the fifth consecutive increase, the Labor Department said Friday.
The CPI increase followed a 0.2% gain in December. The so-called core CPI, which excludes food and energy, fell 0.1%, the first decrease in that index since 1982.
The increase was lower than economists’ forecasts of 0.3%, Bloomberg reported. Energy prices jumped 2.8%.
The CPI is the government’s broadest gauge of costs for goods and services. Almost 60% of the CPI covers prices consumers pay for services.
If consumer prices are climbing, it could reflect an increase in demand for consumer goods, which increases the demand for trucking services.
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