Consumer Price Index Unchanged in January

The consumer price index was unchanged in February, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The government’s main inflation gauge was flat as fuel prices fell in January, though fuel costs have since jumped in February.

The core CPI rate, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.3%, the biggest increase since May 2011.

Economists had forecast a 0.1% increase in the CPI and a 0.2% core-rate increase, Bloomberg News reported.

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.