Consumer Price Index Increases in August

The consumer price index rose 0.4% in August, the Labor Department said Wednesday.

The increase followed a July reading that did not change from the previous month.

The so-called core CPI, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.1%, Labor said.

The reading of the CPI, the government’s main gauge of inflation, exceeded economists’ forecasts of a 0.3% rise, Bloomberg 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.