Consumer prices up 0.5 percent in March

WASHINGTON, April 15 (UPI) -- Higher food and fuel prices pushed the U.S. Consumer Price Index 0.5 percent higher in March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday.

Core prices, which exclude food and fuel costs and are frequently cited by the U.S. Federal Reserve as evidence that inflation has not spread beyond the more volatile categories, rose 0.1 percent in March, half the 0.2 percent rise a month earlier.

On a 12-month basis, core prices rose 1.2 percent in March.

The bureau said food costs rose 0.8 percent, including a 1.1 percent jump in the cost of eating at home and a 0.3 percent rise at restaurants.

The bureau said prices for the six major food categories it tracks rose, from 0.5 percent for cereals and bakery goods to 1.9 percent for fruits and vegetables. Within the latter category, fresh vegetables pushed the index higher with a 4.7 percent increase.

Energy costs leaped 3.5 percent in March, including a 5.6 percent rise in gasoline of all types and a 6.2 percent gain in fuel oil prices.

Fuel oil prices have risen 37.2 percent in the past six months but the household energy index is up only 1.2 percent over the past 12 months with the index for electricity up 1 percent and the index for natural gas down 5.5 percent.