Washington, D.C., September 15, 2005-- Core inflation remained contained in August, with the core consumer price index rising 0.1% for the fourth straight month, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
Soaring energy prices pushed the overall CPI to a second-straight 0.5% increase, the department said.
Core inflation data were slightly better than expected, as economists surveyed by MarketWatch were looking for a 0.2% rise in the core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices. The 0.5% rise in the overall CPI was as expected.
Energy prices increased 5%, the biggest increase in more than two years. The bulk of the data were collected before the Aug. 29 landfall of Hurricane Katrina, which sent retail gasoline prices soaring.
In August, gasoline prices jumped 8.3% and are now up 31.3% in the past year. Natural gas prices rose 2.7%; fuel oil prices increased 4.1%.
In the past year, the CPI is up 3.6%, the biggest year-over-year increase since early 2001. The core rate, however, is up a more 2.1% in the past year, the same as in July.
Transportation prices rose 2.2% on higher fuel prices. New car prices fell 0.5%, while airfares fell 2.2%.
