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                   Cold US Winter Pushes Energy Costs Higher

   Americans paid higher energy costs last month as they coped with an
   unusually cold winter in much of the United States.
   The government`s Labor Department says consumer prices edged up just
   one-tenth of a percentage point in January, but the cost of electricity
   and fuels to heat homes surged.
   The monthly report said electricity prices rose 1.8 percent last month,
   the biggest increase in nearly four years. Natural gas prices jumped
   3.6 percent and heating fuel by 3.7 percent. But for the 12 months
   ending in January, consumer prices advanced only 1.6 percent.
   In a separate report, the Labor Department said the number of
   unemployed workers making first-time claims for jobless benefits
   dropped by 3,000 to 336,000 last week, an indication that employers are
   cutting few jobs.
   But hiring has been sluggish, with only 188,000 jobs during the past
   two months combined, even as the jobless rate dropped to 6.6 percent, a
   five-year low.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/cold-us-winter-pushes-energy-costs-hi
   gher/1855543.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/cold-us-winter-pushes-energy-costs-higher/1855543.html