More Wallet Pain: Consumer Prices Rise
Consumer prices rose 0.3 percent in March thanks to energy and food costs.
April 16, 2008— -- WASHINGTON (AP) -- Consumer prices pushed higher last month as increases in energy, food and airline tickets overwhelmed the biggest drop in clothing prices in nearly a decade.
The Labor Department reported Wednesday that consumer prices rose 0.3 percent in March after being unchanged in February.
Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, posted a 0.2 percent rise last month. Both the overall increase and the rise in core prices were in line with analysts' expectations.
Over the past 12 months, inflation is up by 4 percent, reflecting relentless gains in energy costs, which are up 17 percent over that period, and food prices, which are up 4.4 percent.
For individual food items, the gains are even more stark, with the price of bread up 14.7 percent over the past year and milk prices up 13.3 percent over the same period.
In other economic news, the Commerce Department reported that construction of new homes and apartments plunged in March to the lowest level in 17 years.
Housing construction dropped by 11.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 947,000 units, a much bigger decline than economists had been forecasting. Building permits also fell in March, signaling more problems ahead for the beleaguered housing industry.
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