WASHINGTON — The consumer price index fell 0.3% in May on a seasonally adjusted basis, after being unchanged from March to April, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
Core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy, were up 0.2% for the month, after rising by the same percentage in April.
The 0.3% drop in consumer prices was larger than the median 0.2% decrease projected by economists polled by Thomson Reuters, but the economists were on target with their projection that core prices would rise 0.2%.
The decline in the CPI level for May was primarily due to a 6.8% drop in the gasoline index, which led to a sharp decrease in the energy index.
The 0.2% gain in core prices represented the third such consecutive increase, and was due to gains in the same indexes as in April: shelter, medical care, used cars and trucks, apparel, airline fares and new vehicles.
Meanwhile, real average hourly earnings rose 0.3% in May.
