US consumer prices flat as gas costs fall

WASHINGTON — U.S. wholesale prices fell for the third month in a row last month, pushed down by falling food and gas costs. The drop is the latest evidence inflation is tame. The producer price index dropped 0.2 percent in December, the Labor Department said Tuesday. That follows a decline of 0.8 percent in November. The index measures price changes before they reach the consumer. Wholesale prices rose 1.3 percent in 2012, much lower than the 4.7 percent increase in 2011. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core wholesale prices ticked up 0.1 percent in December.

WASHINGTON — U.S. wholesale prices fell for the third month in a row last month, pushed down by falling food and gas costs. The drop is the latest evidence inflation is tame. The producer price index dropped 0.2 percent in December, the Labor Department said Tuesday. That follows a decline of 0.8 percent in November. The index measures price changes before they reach the consumer. Wholesale prices rose 1.3 percent in 2012, much lower than the 4.7 percent increase in 2011. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core wholesale prices ticked up 0.1 percent in December.

Cheaper gas offset modest increases for food, clothing and housing

We all eat food. So we should all be interested in what's happened to British food prices in the past year or so. The members of the Monetary Policy Committee who appeared before the Treasury Select Committee this morning also have what you might call a professional interest in the subject. Along with other commodity prices, rising food prices have been a key piece of the British inflation puzzle that the Bank of England has been getting wrong.

WASHINGTON – Consumer spending fell in October for the first time in five months as superstorm Sandy choked off car sales, suggesting slower economic growth in the fourth quarter. The Commerce Department said on Friday consumer spending fell 0.2% after a 0.8% increase in September. It said Sandy had impacted on income growth last month, but it had made adjustments to wages for storm-related work interruptions.

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Tim Iacono submits: The Labor Department reported that, due to higher energy and food costs, consumer prices in the U.S. rose 0.5 percent in February after gains of 0.4 percent in December and January, an annualized rate of more than 5 percent over the last three months.