May CPI Declines 0.2%; Core Rate Rises 0.1%

WASHINGTON — The consumer price index fell 0.2% in May and the core index increased 0.1%, both in line with economists’ estimates, the Labor Department reported yesterday. Consumer prices dropped by the largest percentage since December 2008 as fuel prices fell.

Core prices, excluding food and energy, rose for the first time since February.

Economists estimated CPI would drop 0.2% and that core CPI would increase 0.1%, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.

Michael Moran, chief economist with Daiwa Capital Markets America Inc., said the slight upward movement in core prices was almost a “welcome development” because it damped deflation concerns.

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