Inflation firms as March cost of living rises

Washington

THE cost of living in the US excluding food and fuel rose 0.2 per cent in March for a third month, signalling that inflation is starting to firm.

The increase in the core consumer-price index reflected broad-based gains in rents, medical care, clothing and used vehicles, a Labor Department report showed on Friday in Washington. The advance matched the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Including the volatile costs of food and energy, the index also rose 0.2 per cent.

A strengthening labour market may be giving workers the confidence to seek bigger wage concessions, which would prompt companies to raise prices for goods and services. Federal Reserve policymakers want to see inflation on a trajectory towards their 2 per cent goal as they weigh the timing of their first interest rate increase since 200…