U.S. consumer prices increased a larger-than-expected 0.7% in January, led by higher energy, food and housing costs, the Labor Department said Wednesday. The core consumer price index - which excludes food and energy prices - increased 0.2%, as expected. The increases in the seasonally adjusted CPI should keep the Federal Reserve on course to raise its overnight interest rate target to 4.75% in late March. Additional rate hikes will remain under consideration. The Fed has said it believes it is "close" to the end of its rate hikes, but remains concerned that the economy will overshoot and inflationary pressures could rise. Higher energy prices could spill over into a general price escalation. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected the CPI to rise 0.5% in January after falling 0.7% in November and declining 0.1% in December. In the past 12 months, the CPI has risen 4%. The core CPI is up 2.1% over that time, near the top end of the Fed's presumed comfort zone, but down from 2.2% in December.