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WASHINGTON (AP) - Consumer prices galloped ahead in January at the fastest pace in four months, especially pinching the wallets of motorists and other energy users.
The latest picture of the nation's pricing climate, released by the Labor Department on Wednesday, reinforced expectations that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues will boost interest rates in the months ahead to blunt inflation.
The government's most closely watched inflation barometer, the Consumer Price Index, advanced by 0.7 percent, compared with a 0.1 percent dip in December. The seesaw pattern mostly reflects gyrating energy prices.
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