Consumer Prices in U.S. Fell in March on Cheaper Gasoline
By Lorraine Woellert - Apr 16, 2013
The cost of living in the U.S. declined in March for the first time in four months as cheaper gasoline and clothing kept inflation in check.
The consumer-price index dropped 0.2 percent after a 0.7 percent jump in February, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey called for no change. The core measure, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, rose 0.1 percent, less than forecast.
Some companies such as Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) are offering price reductions to stoke household demand that cooled last month amid smaller gains in employment and stagnant wages. Limited inflation is allowing the Federal Reserve to stick to record monetary policy stimulus in a bid to propel the economy.
“Inflation is still very, very low,” said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James & Associates in St. Petersburg, Florida, who projected a 0.3 percent decline in the CPI. “It allows the Fed to be very, very accommodative.”
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2013-04-16/consumer-prices-in-u-s-declined-in-march-on-cheaper-gasoline.html