U.S. consumer prices rose sharply last month on soaring energy prices and a big jump in airline fares.

Yet prices in other nonenergy sectors like clothing, medical care and automobiles were well contained, suggesting that higher oil and food prices in recent months haven’t yet spilled over into the broader economy.

The consumer price index increased 0.6% in May, the U.S. Labour Department said Friday. Excluding food and energy, it advanced a modest 0.2%.

Wall Street economists had expected a 0.5% rise in the headline and 0.2% core increase.

Consumer prices rose 4.2% on a year-over-year basis, the highest rate since January. The core CPI grew a more modest 2.3% compared to May 2007. Over the past three months, core inflation rose at a 1.8% annual rate.

The year-on-year core increase is slightly above the U.S. Federal Reserve’s presumed comfort zone of around 1.5% to 2%. The Fed’s preferred gauge, the core price index for personal consumption expenditures, is closer to that range at 2.1% annual growth through April.

Energy prices jumped 4.4% in May after showing no change in April, according to today’s report. Gasoline prices rose 5.7% last month, and natural gas prices spiked 5.6%.

Food prices rose 0.3% on the month after rising at nearly a two-decade high in April.

Medical care prices, meanwhile, increased a modest 0.2%, while clothing prices fell 0.3%, the third decline in four months. Transportation prices increased 2%, as airline fares jumped 3.2%, the biggest rise since 2002.

Housing, which accounts for 40% of the CPI index, was up 0.5%. Rent increased 0.2%. Owners’ equivalent rent advanced 0.1%. However, lodging away from home swelled 1.3%, reversing some of April’s steep drop.

In a separate report, the U.S. Labour Department said the average weekly earnings of U.S. workers, adjusted for inflation, fell 0.4% in May, suggesting incomes aren’t keeping pace with prices. That, in turn, could weigh on consumer spending, which was surprisingly strong in May, according to a retail sales report released Thursday.

Average hourly earnings increased 0.3% last month, and average weekly hours were flat.