Inflation Rose 0.5% in January

The consumer price index, which measures a broad basket of common goods and services, rose 0.5 percent in January, an annual gain of 6.4 percent. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for respective increases of 0.4 percent and 6.2 percent. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, core CPI increased 0.4 percent monthly and 5.6 percent from a year ago, against respective estimates of 0.3 percent and 5.5 percent. Energy also was a significant contributor, up 2 percent and 8.7 percent respectively, while food costs rose 0.5 percent and 10.1 percent, respectively.