Core Consumer Prices Rise Most in Three Years

Washington, DC, June 15, 2011 — The Consumer Price Index rose 0.2% in May, the Labor Department said.

That’s down from April’s 0.4% increase. Food costs rose 0.4%. But energy costs fell 1%.

So-called “core” prices, which exclude volatile food and energy, rose 0.3%, the most in nearly three years.

Consumer prices rose 3.6% from April 2010 through May 2011, the biggest one-year gain since October 2008. Core prices rose only 1.5% in that same period. That’s below the Federal Reserve’s informal inflation target of about 2%.