US consumer prices rose modestly last month as a surge in energy costs eased, but a wide array of other price rises suggested mounting inflation pressure, the government reported today.
The consumer price index (CPI), the most widely used gauge of US inflation, edged up a smaller-than-expected 0.2 per cent in April, the Labor Department said today. Economists on Wall Street had looked for a 0.3 per cent gain.
But the core CPI, which strips out volatile food and energy costs, climbed 0.3 per cent against expectations for a mild 0.2 per cent gain.
Over the last 12 months, core inflation has risen 1.8 per cent, the biggest such gain since the period ended January 2003. Over the past three months, the core CPI has risen at a hefty 3.3 per cent annual clip.
A big jump in consumer prices in March had spooked financial markets and played a role in convincing investors the Federal Reserve would raise overnight borrowing costs from a 1958 low of 1 per cent some time this summer.
In a separate report, the department said real average weekly earnings climbed 0.2 per cent in April after falling 0.7 per cent a month earlier.