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Higher gasoline prices helped drive prices in counties along the Wasatch Front 0.6 percent higher in June, according to the Zions Bank's Consumer Price Index. Utah now has the eighth-highest gas prices in the U.S., the bank said Tuesday, citing an AAA survey.
Overall, transportation costs, which also include air fares, jumped 2.7 percent on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, according to Zions.
Utility prices jumped 2.1 percent as higher summer rates for water kicked in.
Prices for medical care rose 0.6 percent because the cost of certain routine office visits went up, Zions said.
Grocery prices edged up 0.3 percent, while restaurant food increased 0.2 percent.
Prices for housing, recreation and education each declined by 0.1 percent, the bank said.
Nationally, higher gasoline costs also pushed a measure of U.S. consumer prices up in June. But the overall trend in inflation stayed tame.
The Labor Department said Tuesday that the consumer price index increased 0.5 percent in June from May. Two-thirds of the increase came from a 6.3 percent jump in gas prices, the largest since February.
Excluding volatile food and energy costs, so-called core prices rose just 0.2 percent.
Consumer prices have been stable this year, allowing the Federal Reserve room to continue efforts to stimulate the economy.