Wireless Price Surge Fuels Fed Rate Hike Expectations

A record jump in cellular phone services prices helped drive US inflation above forecasts, likely sealing the deal for a Federal Reserve interest-rate increase next week.

The consumer price index excluding food and energy climbed 0.3% in August from a month earlier, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data out Friday.

The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey called for a 0.2% increase.

The 5.9% surge in wireless telephone services prices alone added about a 10th of a percentage point to the core reading.