Soaring energy prices pushed the U.S. consumer price index up 0.5% seasonally adjusted in July, the Labor Department said Tuesday. Excluding food and energy prices, the core CPI increased 0.2%. The increase in the CPI was slightly ahead of expectations of a 0.4% gain among Wall Street economists surveyed by MarketWatch. The core CPI met expectations. The increases in the CPI and the core CPI were the highest since April. The CPI has risen 3.2% in the past year, up from 2.5% year-over-year in June. The year-over-year gain in the core rate ticked a tenth of a percent higher to 2.1% in July. Core inflation remains within the Federal Reserve's comfort zone. Policymakers are clearly alert to the dangers, having raised interest rates 10 times in the past 14 months to quell inflationary pressures. Wages aren't putting any pressure on firms to raise their prices. Real hourly wages fell 0.2% in July. Over the past year, real hourly and weekly earnings (adjusted for inflation) have fallen 0.5%. Energy prices, which increased 3.8%, were the main source of higher consumer prices in July. Gasoline prices rose 6.1%, while natural gas prices increased 3.8%. Electricity prices fell 0.3%. In the past year, energy prices are up 14.2%, while gasoline prices are up 19.5%. Elsewhere, consumer prices showed modest but accelerating gains.