The cost of fuel, food, and clothing rose the most in four months in the United States during July.

Thursday's report from the Labor Department says the consumer price index went up five-tenths of a percent last month.

Prices declined slightly in the prior month.

Outside the volatile area of food and energy, prices in the overall economy rose a more modest two-tenths of a percent.

A separate report showed the number of Americans signing up for unemployment compensation rose by 9,000 last week. That pushed the nationwide total of jobless claims to 408,000.

The unemployment claims are a measure of the number of layoffs nationwide. Some economists say a healthy job market would see layoffs at 400,000 or lower.