US consumer prices inched up in January but core inflation -- excluding food and energy -- unexpectedly fell for the first time in 27 years amid a sluggish recovery, official data showed Friday.
The consumer price index rose 0.2 percent, led by gasoline prices, the Labor Department reported in seasonally adjusted data.
The CPI increase was a tick below the analyst consensus forecast of 0.3 percent and marked the fifth month in a row the headline inflation reading has remained at 0.2 percent.
On an unadjusted annual basis, consumer prices were up 2.6 percent from January 2009, a low base for comparison because consumer prices had fallen for five consecutive months in late 2008 as the global financial and economic crisis accelerated.
Core CPI, excluding food and energy prices, unexpectedly fell 0.1 percent last month from December, the first decline since December 1982.
Most analysts had forecast a rise of 0.1 percent in the key indicator closely watched by the Federal Reserve in setting monetary policy.
The Labor Department said the decline in core CPI was largely the result of falling prices for shelter, new vehicles and airline fares, that offset a 0.7 jump in medical care prices, the steepest rise in a year.
In another sign of the problems in the ailing auto sector, the price index for used cars and trucks ''increased significantly'' for the sixth month running, the report said.
Core CPI was up 1.6 percent from the year-earlier reading.
Energy goods prices accounted for the rise in overall consumer prices, leaping 2.8 percent from December driven mainly by a 4.4 percent advance in gasoline prices, the Labor Department said.
The food index rose 0.2 percent from December, with the price of ''food at home'' up 0.4 percent, the biggest increase since September 2008.
