Fed's Hoenig: Food and energy costs "systematically" up

DENVER (Reuters) - Kansas City Federal Reserve President Thomas Hoenig said policy-makers are giving increasing weight to persistently higher food and energy prices as they measure whether inflation has reached troublesome levels.

"Energy has systematically begun to increase at a faster rate, food is systematically increasing, therefore the rationale for taking it out of the total (consumer price index) and looking at the core is less compelling," Hoenig said in response to questions after a speech.

"And so I am looking, and I think others are, at the total CPI, or (personal consumption expenditures) number as much as, if not more, now, than the core," he added.

(Reporting by Ros Krasny, Writing by Mark Felsenthal; Editing by Andrea Ricci)