April 17, 2000 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Consumer prices rise in March
On a seasonally
adjusted basis, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 0.7 percent in March, following an increase
of 0.5 percent in February. For the 12-month period ended in March, the
unadjusted CPI-U increased 3.8 percent.
![Percent change from 12 months ago, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, not seasonally adjusted, March 1991- March 2000](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20120925071156im_/http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/images/2000/Apr/wk3/art01.gif)
[Chart data—TXT]
Rising energy costs--up 4.9 percent in March--accounted for more than
half of the monthly change in the overall CPI for the second consecutive
month. The food index, which increased 0.4 percent in February, rose 0.1
percent in March.
Excluding food and energy, the CPI-U rose 0.4 percent in March,
following increases of 0.2 percent in the first two months of this year.
Most major expenditure groups contributed to the larger March advance with
increases in the cost of shelter, transportation (other than motor fuels),
and household furnishings and operations accounting for about
three-fourths of the acceleration.
These data are a product of the BLS Consumer
Price Index program.
Of interest
Spotlight on Statistics: National Hispanic Heritage Month
In this Spotlight, we take a look at the Hispanic labor force—including labor force participation, employment and unemployment, educational attainment, geographic location, country of birth, earnings, consumer expenditures, time use, workplace injuries, and employment projections.
.
Read more »