Consumers paid more for most goods in January

WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumers paid more in January for everything from food and gas to airline tickets and clothing. The price increases reflect creeping but still-modest inflation.

The Consumer Price Index rose 0.4 percent last month, matching December's increase, the Labor Department said today. Over the past year, the index has risen 1.6 percent.

Core prices, which exclude volatile food and energy costs, rose 0.2 percent. That's the largest monthly increase in more than a year.

Over the past 12 months, core prices have increased 1 percent. This is more than December's 0.8 percent annual pace, but it remains well below the Federal Reserve's comfort zone for inflation of between 1.5 percent and 2 percent.

Food prices climbed 0.5 percent in January, the most in more than two years. Still, food costs in the U.S. are still tame compared with the raging inflation in many developing countries. Those countries are more vulnerable to steep rises in the prices of corn, wheat, coffee and other commodities.

Other reports today showed:

• More people are applying for unemployment benefits. Applications rose last week to a seasonally adjusted 410,000, the Labor Department said. The increase follows a week when applications fell to their lowest level in nearly three years. But that decline was due partly to snowstorms that closed some government offices and kept people from applying for benefits.

• Fewer homeowners are falling behind on their mortgages.