March 20, 2000 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.) Consumer prices last monthOn a seasonally adjusted basis, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 0.5 percent in February, following increases of 0.2 percent in each of the preceding four months. For the 12-month period ended in February, the unadjusted CPI-U increased 3.2 percent.
The food index, which declined 0.1 percent in January, increased 0.4 percent in February, reflecting in part a sharp jump in meat prices. The energy index rose 4.6 percent, its largest advance since a 6.0 percent rise in April 1999. The index for petroleum-based energy increased 8.0 percent and the index for energy services rose 1.1 percent. Excluding food and energy, the CPI-U rose 0.2 percent in February, the same as in January. These data are a product of the BLS Consumer Price Index program. |
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