The cost of living in the United States climbed in July by the most in four months, led by higher energy and food prices, Bloomberg reported.

The Consumer Price Index, which is a measure of the average prices of consumer goods, increased 0.5 percent from June, according to figures from the U.S. Department of Labor. Economists had projected a 0.2 percent increase.

“There’s not a lot of improvement in the labor market, and given what’s going on with economic growth, pricing power should weaken further,” said Michael Feroli, chief U.S. economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co., in an interview with Bloomberg. “Ultimately, inflation will moderate, but in the meantime, it remains frustratingly high.”

The report also showed inflation-adjusted hourly wages dropped 0.1 percent in July and were down 1.3 percent from the same month a year ago.

In more bad economic news, more Americans filed first-time applications for unemployment benefits last week, Labor Department figures showed. Applications rose by 9,000 to 408,000 in the week ended Aug. 13, the highest in a month.