Washington, DC, November 17-- The consumer-price index rose by a larger-than-expected 0.6% last month, three times the rate in September, the Labor Department said Wednesday.
More than half the increase was due to surging energy prices, the department said. The core index, which excludes energy and food prices, moderated to a 0.2% rate of growth from 0.3% in September.
Wall Street expected smaller increases in both the overall and core indexes. The average forecast of economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires and CNBC had called for a 0.4% gain in the overall index and a 0.1% increase in the core index.
The Labor Department said consumer prices were up 3.2% in the year through October, up from a 2.5% rate in the year through September. But the core index showed no acceleration in the growth of prices: that index was up 2% in the year through October, the same as in September.
The report showed that energy prices rose 4.2% in October, the largest increase since May. Gasoline prices registered an 8.6% increase that was the biggest in 20 months. Fuel oil prices rose 9.4%, also the biggest increase in 20 months.
Food prices also surged, climbing 0.6% in the biggest increase since May.
Transportation prices registered the biggest increase since March 2000, climbing 2.3%. The Labor Department said higher gasoline prices accounted for most of that increase. Prices of new motor vehicles rose 0.4%, the biggest increase in eight months. Prices of airline fares rose 1.4%, the biggest increase since July 2003.
