After reporting decreases in consumer prices in each of the two previous months, the Labor Department released a report on Tuesday showing a modest increase in prices in the month of May.

The Labor Department said its consumer price index inched up by 0.1 percent in May after falling by 0.4 percent in April and dipping 0.2 percent in March. Economists had been expecting the index to edge up by 0.2 percent.

The core consumer price index, which excludes food and energy costs, rose by 0.2 percent in May after rising by 0.1 percent in each of the two previous months. The modest increase matched expectations.