June 9, 1999 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Prices for apparel declined in 1998

Apparel prices paid by consumers fell by 0.7 percent in 1998. It was the third time in five years that apparel prices dropped.

[Chart data—TXT]

In addition to falling in1998, apparel prices decreased in 1994 and 1996. As a result, consumers actually paid 1.4 percent less for apparel in December 1998 than they did five years earlier. In contrast, prices for commodities as a whole were 7.7 percent higher at the end of 1998 than in December 1993.

The 0.7-percent decline in the price index for apparel in 1998 followed a rise of 1.0 percent in the previous year. In comparison, the index for all commodities rose by 0.4 percent in 1998, after increasing by 0.2 percent in 1997.

These data are produced by the BLS Consumer Price Index program. More information on consumer price changes can be found in "Consumer inflation remains modest in 1998," Monthly Labor Review, April 1999. Annual percent changes are December-to-December changes.