BEIJING - China’s consumer prices unexpectedly increased in October, as holidays during the month boosted travel, food and transport demand – a pick-up many economists saw likely as fleeting. 

The consumer price index rose 0.2 per cent from a year earlier, after a 0.3 per cent decline in September, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Nov 9. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for a 0.1 per cent drop. China’s core CPI, which excludes volatile items such as food and energy, climbed 1.2 per cent.