New figures show that US consumer prices rose modestly in March after a surge in petrol and food costs in recent months.
The Labor Department said its Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.3% in March, in line with most economists' expectations. Stripping out volatile food and energy costs, the core CPI gained 0.2% last month, also in line.
Economists have warned, however, that wholesale prices for energy and food have spiked and that this could lead to consumer price hikes in coming weeks.
Separate Commerce Department figures showed that US home building projects started in March fell by 11.9% to a lower than expected annual rate while building permit activity, a sign of future construction plans, was off 5.8%.
The Commerce Department said housing starts set an annual pace of 947,000 units in March, lower than the 1.02 million expected by economists.
