By Jeffry Bartash
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - U.S. consumer prices rose a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in September because of higher costs of medical care, shelter and all forms of fuel, the Labor Department said Wednesday. Separately, Labor said the CPI index on which annual cost-of-living adjustments to Social Security are based rose 1.5%. The Social Security Administration will announce shortly the precise increase in the cost-of-living adjustment for 2014. In September, energy prices jumped 0.8% while food prices were flat. The core CPI, which exclude volatile food and energy costs, rose a smaller 0.1%. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had forecast a 0.2% increase in both the overall index and in the core rate. Consumer prices have risen an unadjusted 1.2% over the past 12 months, the lowest level in five months. Real or inflation-adjusted hourly wages, meanwhile, were unchanged in September at $10.30. Real wages rose a scant 0.9% in the 12 months ending in September.
