Consumer Price Index Increases 0.4%

The gain in the government’s main inflation gauge was lower than the 0.5% advance the previous month, which was the largest gain since June 2009.

The increase matched economists’ estimates, Bloomberg reported.

The so-called core rate excluding food and energy increased 0.2%, which also matched economists’ projections.

Almost 60% of the CPI covers prices consumers pay for services. If consumer prices are climbing, it could reflect an increase in demand for consumer goods, which increases the demand for trucking services.