Consumer Price Index Jumps 0.4% in March

April 19, 2006 8:45 AM, EDT

Click here to write a Letter to the Editor.

.S. consumer prices rose 0.4% in March, the biggest rise in a year, the Labor Department reported Wednesday.

The gain was led by fuel prices, Labor said. The “core” consumer price index excluding food and energy rose 0.3%, also the biggest jump in a year.

oth the overall and core increases followed 0.1% gains in February.

The CPI increase matched analysts’ expectations, while the core rate exceeded expectations of a 0.2% 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.