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Consumer prices rise for fifth straight month as avian flu boosts egg costs

An outbreak of avian flu pushed egg prices up 18.3% last month, the largest jump since 1973.

An outbreak of avian flu pushed egg prices up 18.3% last month, the largest jump since 1973.

(Charlie Neibergall / Associated Press)
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Consumer prices rose in June for the fifth straight month and posted their first 12-month increase since December in a sign that extremely low inflation might be abating, the Labor Department said Friday.

The consumer price index increased 0.3% last month, in line with economists’ expectations. The figure was down from a 0.4% rise in May.

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Food prices were a major factor in June’s increase, rising 0.3% in large part because of sharply higher egg prices. An outbreak of avian flu pushed egg prices up 18.3% last month, the largest jump since 1973.

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Overall, food prices posted their biggest increase since September.

Gas prices rose 3.4%, the second straight monthly increase. Energy prices overall were up 1.7% in June.

Shelter, airline tickets and new vehicles also were among the sectors showing price increases.

June’s data continued a recent upward trend in prices after they had declined from November through January. Those decreases were driven by lower gasoline prices.

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Rising prices in recent months helped push the annual inflation rate up for the first time this year. Prices rose 0.1% for the 12 months ended June 30.

So-called core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, was up 1.8% for the same period.

Federal Reserve policymakers are closely watching inflation as they decide when to increase the central bank’s benchmark short-term interest rate.

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The Fed wants annual inflation of 2%, though it uses a different measure based on personal consumption expenditures.

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