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Wed. 9:28 a.m.: November US consumer prices up 0.3 percent on rising energy costs

In this Nov. 27 file photo from left, Tina Fausto, left, and Olivia Wirtshafter, right, shop with Lilly Flores, second from left, and Laly Rose Stanton the day before the Thanksgiving holiday at a Walmart Supercenter in Las Vegas. This morning, the Labor Department reported that U.S. consumer prices rose 0.3 percent in November after rising 0.4 percent in October. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Higher energy prices lifted U.S. overall consumer prices in November.

The Labor Department said this morning that its consumer price index rose 0.3 percent last month after rising 0.4 percent in October. Energy prices, led by a 1.1 percent uptick in gasoline, rose 0.8 percent in November on top of a 2.7 percent jump in October.

Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core inflation rose 0.2 percent in November, matching October’s increase. Despite surging in October and November, gasoline prices are down 1.2 percent over the past year.

Overall consumer prices were up 2.1 percent and core prices were up 2.3 percent from November 2018.

That means inflation is in line with the Federal Reserve’s target of 2 percent a year. The Fed has cut the short-term interest rate it controls three times this year, partly to protect a record-breaking U.S. economic expansion from the effects of President Donald Trump’s trade war with China.

Over the past year, the price of medical care is up 5.1 percent and housings costs are up 3.3 percent. Clothing prices are down 1.6 percent, and the cost of used and new cars and trucks are also down.

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