Consumer Price Index Climbs 0.3% In June

The consumer price index rose a seasonally adjusted 0.3% in June, spurred by rising costs for housing, gasoline and food such as eggs, the government said Friday. That matched the forecast of economists polled by MarketWatch. Energy prices rose 1.7% and food prices increased 0.3%, the Labor Department said. Excluding food and energy, so-called core consumer prices rose 0.2% in June. Over the past 12 months the main CPI has risen by an unadjusted 0.1%, the first time it's shown a yearly increase since December. Core prices are up a mild 1.8% in the past year. Real or inflation-adjusted hourly wages, meanwhile, fell by 0.4% in June. Real hourly wages are up a lackluster 1.7% in the last 12 months.