WASHINGTON - Consumer prices rose 0.5% in December, led by a sharp rise in gasoline prices, the Labor Department reported Friday.
However, core prices, which that exclude food and energy costs, edged up only 0.1% for the second consecutive month.
While overall prices increased 1.5% from December 2010 to December 2009, core prices rose just 0.8% during that period. Price inflation for consumer goods during 2010 increased 1.6%, compared to a 0.4% decline in inflation for all of 2009, Labor said.
Economists expected December consumer prices would rise 0.4% and core prices would rise 0.1%, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.
Gasoline prices jumped 8.5% in December, accounting for about 80% of the headline 0.5% increase, Labor said. It was the sixth consecutive monthly gasoline price increase. Energy prices rose 4.6%.
The 0.5% December gain followed an unrevised 0.1% increase in November.
