|
Inflation barely creeps up
|
 |
March 19, 1998: 10:09 a.m. ET
The Consumer Price Index rose 0.1 percent in February -- as expected
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Overall consumer prices inched up slightly last month as a rise in the cost of cigarettes and other tobacco items offset a slide in gas prices, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday.
The seasonally adjusted Consumer Price Index rose 0.1 percent in February, in line with economists' estimates. The index was flat in January.
The so-called "core rate" of the index - which excludes volatile food and energy prices -- rose 0.3 percent. That was higher than the 0.1 percent gain that had been expected.
Bond prices stumbled briefly on the news, but immediately recovered to their previous levels as the market digested a batch of other economic news, including the January trade deficit. The 30-year Treasury bond was up 1/32 of a point in price, nudging the yield down to 5.89 percent.
For the preceding 12 months, the CPI, a key gauge of inflationary patterns, rose a paltry 1.4 percent. Medical costs have been the fastest-rising component of the index over that span.
"Inflation is just not a problem in this economy," said Clyde Prestowitz, president of the Economic Strategy Institute, in an interview with CNNfn's Deborah Marchini.
In February, the transportation index fell 0.4 percent, a fourth-straight monthly decline. The gas price index fell 3.4 percent, having plunged 10.8 percent in the past 12 months.
Meanwhile, the index for tobacco and other smoking products rose 2.9 percent as cigarette makers raised their wholesale prices in late January.
The Labor Department said larger advances in shelter and apparel costs were also behind the mild increase in the CPI last month. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
U.S. Labor Department
|
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
External sites are not endorsed by CNNmoney
|
|
|
|
 |
|
