March 17, 2006 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

CPI in February 2006

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) advanced 0.1 percent in February 2006, following a 0.7-percent rise in January.

[Chart data—TXT]

Energy costs, which increased 5.0 percent in January, declined 1.2 percent in February. Within energy, the index for petroleum-based energy decreased 1.0 percent and the index for energy services fell 1.3 percent.

The food index rose 0.1 percent in February after increasing 0.5 percent in January. The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.1 percent in February, following a 0.2-percent increase in January; shelter costs rose 0.4 percent and accounted for about four-fifths of the February increase.

For the 12 months ended in February 2006, the CPI-U rose 3.6 percent, as shown in the chart.

These data are from the BLS Consumer Price Index program. To learn more, see "Consumer Price Index: February 2006" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 06-459.