January CPI Rises 0.4%

The consumer price index rose 0.4% in January, matching an increase in December that was larger than originally reported, the Labor Department said Wednesday.

However, the core CPI for January, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.3%, the biggest gain since June 2006, Labor said.

The January CPI increase beat economists’ expectations of a 0.3% increase. The increase in the core CPI was higher than the 0.2% expected by economists, Bloomberg News reported.

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.