Prices paid by U.S. consumers rose 0.4 percent last month, paced by gains in fuel, food and medical care that highlight the Federal Reserve's concern over inflation.
By Courtney Schlisserman
March 16 (Bloomberg) -- Prices paid by U.S. consumers rose 0.4 percent last month, paced by gains in fuel, food and medical care that highlight the Federal Reserve's concern over inflation.
The increase in the consumer price index followed a 0.2 percent January gain, the Labor Department said today in Washington. Core prices, which exclude food and energy, rose 0.2 percent and were 2.7 percent higher than a year earlier.
Combined with last month's jump in wholesale prices, the figures make it tougher for the Fed to lower rates should the mortgage crisis cause the economy to stumble. Policy makers are forecast to leave their benchmark interest rate unchanged for a sixth time when they meet next week.
``Clearly, there are still inflationary pressures,'' said Julia Coronado, an economist at Barclays Capital in New York. ``This will only confirm the Fed's tightening bias is the appropriate bias at this point.''
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