Consumer inflation rose at a moderate monthly pace in June, led higher primarily by gasoline prices, but the annual pace of inflation remains in a lull not seen since the 1940s. 

According to a report from the U.S. Labor Department, the nation’s consumer price index ticked up 0.6% in June – the quickest rate in 11 months – led higher by a 7.4% increase in the energy index during the month.

Excluding volatile food and energy prices, core inflation rose at a tamer 0.2% during the month. 

Both the core and headline inflation figures were close to economists’ estimations of a 0.6% rise in the headline number and 0.1% in the core figure, according to estimates provided by Thomson Reuters.

While the pace of the headline inflation figure was the fastest since the energy and commodity bubble of summer 2008, the issue of higher-than-usual inflation remains elusive. According to the U.S. Labor Department, consumer prices fell by 1.4% on an annualized basis – the fastest decrease for the index since the U.S. economy transitioned out of a war-based economy during the Truman Administration.

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The annualized decrease in inflation also provides credence to the Federal Reserve – whose responsibilities include job creation and price stability – whose current outlook estimates that inflation will not be an issue for some time.

“We continue to expect the combination of depressed retail spending, falling wages and tight credit will drive core inflation lower for the foreseeable future,” said Ian Shepherdson with High Frequency Economics. 

Of the spending components that did increase during the month, the biggest increase came in the energy complex, with consumers seeing 7.4% increase, while food remained unchanged.

The general market consensus is that inflation will happen, but the answer for the question of “when” remains unanswered. The Federal Reserve is expected to keep their interest rates near zero, which could provide excess liquidity as the economy recovers. There’s also the concern of government spending, with the Congressional Budget Office saying earlier this week that the U.S. Federal annual operating deficit topped $1 trillion for the first time ever.

But with that in focus, there remain large amounts of slack in the U.S. economy that could offset inflation. The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that the nation’s capacity utilization fell by 0.2 percent points to 68%, the lowest level for that indicator since the bank began keeping records in 1967.