US consumer prices rise strongly in January; weekly jobless claims fall

U.S. consumer prices rose solidly in January, leading to the biggest annual increase in inflation in 40 years, which could fuel financial markets speculation for a 50 basis points interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve next month.

The consumer price index gained 0.6% last month after increasing 0.6% in December, the Labor Department said on Thursday. In the 12 months through January, the CPI jumped 7.5%, the biggest year-on-year increase since February 1982.

That followed a 7.0% advance in December and marked the fourth straight month of annual increases in excess of 6%.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast