February 21, 2002 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Consumer prices up 0.2 percent in January

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.2 percent in January, following a 0.1-percent decline in December.

[Chart data—TXT]

The energy index, which declined sharply in each of the preceding three months, advanced 0.9 percent in January. The index for petroleum-based energy increased 2.5 percent, while the index for energy services fell 0.4 percent. The food index, which was unchanged in December, rose 0.3 percent in January, reflecting an upturn in prices for fruits and vegetables.

Excluding food and energy, the CPI-U rose 0.2 percent in January after increasing 0.1 percent in December. Upturns in the indexes for tobacco and smoking products and for recreation, coupled with a larger increase in the index for medical care, accounted for the larger advance in January.

For the 12-month period ended in January, the CPI-U increased 1.1 percent.

These data are a product of the BLS Consumer Price Index program. Find out more in "Consumer Price Indexes, January 2002", news release USDL 02-95.