The cost of living along the Wasatch Front rose only 0.1 percent during the month of March, according to Wells Fargo & Co., which produces the Wasatch Front Cost of Living report.

On Wednesday, investors nationally were worried about a U.S. Labor Department report that said the nation's consumer price index (CPI) in March jumped by a much larger margin - 0.6 percent. The Wells Fargo report is designed to be directly comparable to the CPI.

The U.S. core consumer price index - which excludes volatile energy and food prices - increased by a hefty 0.3 percent last month. The increase is the biggest in a year and significantly above the 0.2 percent that economists had predicted.

In recent months, Utah's cost-of-living increases have been markedly lower than the increase nationally.

The low inflation for Utahns is one part of the state's overwhelmingly positive economic news, said Wells Fargo economist Kelly Matthews. "Job growth in Utah is terrific, wages are going up and housing is doing well," he said.

According to the Wells Fargo report, only three Wasatch Front spending categories increased last month.

The category with the largest increase was transportation, up 0.3 percent in March largely because of higher gas prices. Nationally, transportation prices jumped by a much larger margin - 0.9 percent.

Although Utahns enjoy the lowest gasoline prices in the country and often see smaller pump-price increases than people living in many other states, gas price increases nationally - and in Utah - could become a problem in the coming months.

Gas prices typically rise during the summer months, falling after Labor Day when demand among consumers drops off. Even though the summer driving season doesn't officially start until Memorial Day, as of Wednesday the average cost of a gallon of unleaded gasoline in Utah already has increased 12 cents during the past month, to $2.43, travel services company AAA Utah reported.

"All signs point to additional increases during the spring and summer," said Rolayne Fairclough, AAA spokeswoman.

Beyond that? Who knows, said Zions Bank economist Jeff Thredgold. Gas prices are not only affected by traditional supply-and-demand issues but increasingly by international turmoil in Nigeria, Iran, Iraq and other countries. This makes them even more difficult to predict.

Aside from transportation costs, the only other categories to increase along the Wasatch Front were groceries and clothing - each were up 0.2 percent.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.