US consumer prices post 0.4 percent April increase

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer prices jumped in April by the largest amount in more than three years, reflecting a surge in the price of gasoline and other energy products.

[...] outside of volatile food and energy, core inflation posted another modest gain.

Faced with those developments, the Fed decided to keep rates unchanged and in March signaled that it now expected to raise rates only twice this year, not the four increases it had forecast in December.

The 2.1 percent increase in core inflation over the past 12 months was led by a 6 percent rise in the cost of auto insurance over the past 12 months and a 3.7 percent increase in tobacco prices and a 3 percent increase in medical care.