November 18, 1999 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Consumer prices in October

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 0.2 percent in October, following a 0.4 percent increase in September. Excluding food and energy, the CPI-U rose 0.2 percent in October, following an increase of 0.3 percent in September.

[Chart data—TXT]

Smaller increases in the indexes for apparel and shelter, coupled with a downturn in the index for cigarettes, were largely responsible for the deceleration in the October all items less food and energy index. The energy index, which increased sharply in each of the preceding three months, declined 0.1 percent in October. For the fourth consecutive month, the food index increased 0.2 percent.

For the 12-month period ended in October, the unadjusted CPI-U increased 2.6 percent. During the same period, the CPI-U less food and energy rose 2.1 percent.

These data are a product of the BLS Consumer Price Index program. Find out more in Consumer Price Indexes, October 1999, news release USDL 99-327.