MW: Consumer prices show no growth; energy costs down
By Ruth Mantell, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- With energy prices declining and food prices rising, U.S. consumer prices showed zero growth in September, registering no change from the prior month, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
Energy prices dropped 1.9% after seasonal adjustments, the September data showed.
For the second consecutive month, food prices rose by 0.6%.
The government's core consumer price index, which excludes food and energy price inputs, rose 0.1% in September.
Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had been looking for both the overall and core readings of retail-level inflation to rise by 0.2%.
The CPI has risen 4.9% in the past year. Growth in the core rate has been 2.5%, a little faster than the Federal Reserve would prefer.
The report for September should ease inflation fears a bit as the government grapples with ongoing and widespread economic and financial problems. Stocks sold off Wednesday on evidence of a painful recession under way as the credit squeeze persists.
Also Thursday, the Labor Department reported that first-time claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 16,000 to 461,000 in the week ended Oct. 11. The four-week average of those claims rose 750 to 483,250 -- the highest level since October 2001.
