February 22, 2006 10:00 AM, EST

Consumer Price Index Jumps 0.7% in January

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ollowing two months of downturns, the U.S. consumer prices rose 0.7% in January, the most in a year, the Labor Department reported Wednesday.

The so-called “core” consumer price index, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.2% following a 0.1% gain in December, Labor said.

The overall CPI drop followed a 0.1% decline in December. November’s level had fallen 0.6%, and the two were the first back-to-back declines in two years.

The CPI decline was short of analysts’ expectations of a 0.5% gain, while the core rate matched expectations, 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 falling, it could reflect a decrease in demand for consumer goods, which decreases the demand for trucking services.