Consumer Price Index Rises 0.8%

Consumer prices rose 0.8% in July, bringing the rise for the last 12 months to 5.6%, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The rise in the consumer price index, the government’s main gauge of inflation, was double economists’ forecasts, Bloomberg reported.

The so-called core CPI excluding food and energy rose 0.3% for a second straight month, also more than forecast.

The CPI is the government’s broadest gauge of costs for goods and services. 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.