March 22, 2002 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Consumer prices up 0.2 percent again in February

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.2 percent in February, the same as in January.

[Chart data—TXT]

The energy index, which advanced 0.9 percent in January, declined 0.8 percent in February. The index for petroleum-based energy decreased 0.1 percent, and the index for energy services fell 1.3 percent. The food index rose 0.2 percent in February, reflecting another large increase in the index for fruits and vegetables.

Excluding food and energy, the CPI-U rose 0.3 percent in February after increasing 0.2 percent in January. An upturn in the index for apparel, coupled with larger increases in the indexes for shelter and for tobacco and smoking products, accounted for the larger advance in February.

For the 12-month period ended in February, 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, February 2002", news release USDL 02-151.