By Rex Nutting
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Consumer prices in the United States fell 0.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis in April as energy, housing, auto and apparel prices declined, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. It was the first decline in the consumer price index since March 2009. The consumer price index is up 2.2% in the past year. The core CPI -- which excludes food and energy prices in order to get a better view of underlying inflation -- was unchanged in April, lowering the year-over-year increase in core inflation to 0.9%, the lowest rate since January 1966. The report was better than expected. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch nailed the 0.1% drop in the headline CPI, but were expecting a 0.1% gain in the core rate.
