U.S. inflation went up last month.

Gas prices rose after more fighting in the Middle East.

The Labor Department said Friday that the consumer price index rose 3.4% from a year ago.

That is the same as July.

But prices jumped 0.4% from July.

That is four times the 0.1% increase the month before.

The report puts more pressure on the Federal Reserve.

It may raise its main interest rate next week.

That could make mortgage and car loan costs higher in the coming months.

Fed Chair Kevin Warsh and other officials have said they need to see inflation keep falling.

Then they can leave rates where they are.

Kathy Bostjancic is the chief economist at Nationwide.

She said the August report did not show that.

Gas prices rose 3.9% from July to August.

They are more than 27% higher than a year ago.

Diesel prices have hit record highs above $6 a gallon.

That pushes up shipping costs for groceries and other goods.

Airline tickets rose 2.7% for the month.

They have gone up more than 23% from a year ago.

Hotel room prices climbed 2.4% from July to August.

Core prices do not include food and energy.

They were 2.4% higher than a year ago.

That is a little down from 2.5% in July.

But monthly core prices rose 0.3%.

That is the largest increase since April.

Wall Street investors now see a more than 80% chance the Fed will raise rates on Sept. 16.

That is according to CME Fedwatch.