WASHINGTON — Consumer prices rose 0.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis after a 0.4% increase in April, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. The May increase is the smallest rise since a 0.1% uptick in November 2010.
Core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy, rose 0.3% in May after a 0.2% gain in April. May’s increase in core prices was the largest since a 0.3% rise in July 2008.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters had a median estimate of a 0.1% rise for prices overall and a 0.2% increase estimated for the core.
Energy prices fell 1.0%, with gasoline tumbling 2.0%. Food prices rose 0.4%.
