Core inflation - which excludes energy and food - rose 0.2 percentage points to 2.8 percent in April.
Airfares shot up 21 percent in April due to more expensive jet fuel in the wake of the war in Iran.
Average hourly earnings in the United States fell 0.3 percent year-on-year in April.
This is a setback for the middle class and low-income households - and they know it, Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, told CNBC.
Market interest rates in the United States rose after the report, while futures trading on Wall Street pointed downward.
