July consumer prices jump 5.4%, but core inflation rises less than expected

Prices that Americans pay for everyday goods and services continued their recent acceleration in July as pent-up demand for travel and restaurants kept inflation hot, but about where economists had expected.

The Labor Department reported Wednesday that its consumer price index rose 5.4% in July from a year earlier, in line with June’s figure and matching the largest jump since August 2008. The government said CPI increased 0.5% on a month-over-month basis.

Excluding energy and food, CPI rose by 0.3% last month, shy of economist expectations of a 0.4% increase and well below June’s rise of 0.9%. The core figure is up 4.3% over the last year, a slight deceleration from June’s 4.5%.