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CPI up 0.2%; retail slows
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April 13, 1999: 9:15 a.m. ET
Inflation data just below forecast; March retail up a bit after February surge
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The U.S. economy continued to show little sign of inflation in March, with retail sales retreating from the three-year high posted in February, according to two reports issued Tuesday by the federal government.
Consumer prices rose 0.2 percent in March, with prices excluding food and energy -- the so-called core rate -- up 0.1 percent, the Labor Department said. The figures came in just below the consensus of analysts surveyed by Reuters, which projected an overall 0.3 percent increase in CPI, with a 0.2 percent increase excluding food and energy.
Both the overall and core rate indicators were up 0.1 percent in February.
The recent surge in gasoline prices seemed to have little impact on the CPI. "I think we're in outstanding shape in that regard," Neal Soss, chief economist at Credit Suisse First Boston, told CNNfn's "Before Hours". "I think it's [price increase] going to stay isolated in the energy sector."
Meanwhile, overall retail sales rose 0.2 percent in March, with sales excluding autos up 0.5 percent, according to Commerce Department figures. The overall sales were just below the 0.3 percent Reuters analyst consensus, with sales excluding autos in line with expectations.
February retail sales were revised to up 1.7 percent from the originally reported 0.9 percent increase. The increase is the largest on a monthly basis since February 1994. Sales excluding autos were revised to up 1.3 percent from the originally reported 0.6 percent increase.
Treasury markets moved little after the release of the inflation and retail sales reports. The U.S. 30-year bond was up 3/32 to 97-5/32, yielding 5.44 percent, the same level as it was just prior to the 8:30 a.m. ET report. 
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