Consumer prices dip for first time in six months

Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Consumer prices declined for the first time in six months, a sign of inflation below government targets. The price fall was led by lower gas prices.

The price decline was the first since April. Prices rose 0.2 percent in September, and the most recent decline in October was 0.1 percent lower.

Gas prices fell 2.9 percent last month, with prices at the pump averaging $3.21. Prices fell as low as $3.18, the lowest since February 2011.

Retail sales rose as consumers had to spend less on fuel. And nearing the holiday season, the country's largest retailers are dropping prices quickly to draw in more holiday spending. Average weekly earnings also inched higher.

But food prices rose 0.1 percent. Core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy, inched up 0.1 percent.

Year-over-year, core prices rose 1.7 percent, which is below the Federal Reserve Board's target of 2 percent inflation. But economists and officials say inflation is not yet a concern, as the Fed continues with it's easy-money policy of putting cash into the economy to facilitate spending and investment.

[Bloomberg] [Wall Street Journal]