April 20, 2006 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

CPI in March 2006

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) advanced 0.4 percent in March, following a 0.1-percent rise in February.

[Chart data—TXT]

Energy costs, which declined 1.2 percent in February, increased 1.3 percent in March. Within energy, the index for motor fuels increased 3.6 percent, while the index for household fuels fell 1.0 percent.

The food index rose 0.1 percent in March, the same as in February. The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.3 percent in March, following a 0.1-percent increase in February; the indexes for apparel and for shelter accounted for about 70 percent of the March increase.

For the first three months of 2006, consumer prices increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 4.3 percent. This compares with an increase of about 3.4 percent for all of 2005.

For the 12 months ended in March 2006, the CPI-U rose 3.4 percent, as shown in the chart.

These data are from the BLS Consumer Price Index program. To learn more, see "Consumer Price Index: March 2006" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 06-693.