August US CPI Up 0.6% On Higher Gasoline Prices, Largest Rise In More Than 3 Years

By Moran Zhang | September 14 2012 8:50 AM

U.S. consumer prices rose by 0.6 percent in August as gasoline prices surged, the Labor Department said Friday. Economists polled by Reuters had called for a 0.5 percent rise.

Reuters

The cost of living in the U.S. increased at a slower pace in March.

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Gasoline prices jumped 9 percent last month, accounting for about 80 percent of the rise in consumer inflation. That's their largest increase since June 2009. Food prices rose a much smaller 0.2 percent.

The underlying inflation was fairly muted. Stripping out volatile food and energy costs, the so-called core CPI increased 0.1 percent for a second month in a row.

Consumer prices have climbed 1.7 percent over the last 12 months and 1.9 percent on a core basis, within the Federal Reserve's target for inflation.

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