The Boston Globe

Business

Price index jumps on gas prices Jump in gas prices fuels Gas spike drives US consumer prices up 0.7 percent

WASHINGTON — A spike in gas prices drove a measure of US consumer costs up in February by the most in more than three years. But outside the gain in fuel costs, inflation was mostly modest.

The consumer price index increased a seasonally adjusted 0.7 percent last month from January, the Labor Department said Friday. It was the biggest monthly rise since June 2009.

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