HUFFINGTON POST / AP: Rising food costs and higher rents offset a drop in gas prices last month, leaving consumer inflation all but flat in October.
The consumer price index rose a seasonally adjusted 0.1 percent in October, the Labor Department said Thursday. That’s down from sharp gains of 0.6 percent in the previous two months, which were driven by a spike in gas prices that has since receded.
Gas prices fell 0.6 percent last month. Food prices rose 0.2 percent, pushed higher by steep increases in milk and cheese costs… (more)
EDITOR: Lack of inflationary pressure is not necessarilly good for the economy. Given the massive fiscal and consumer debt, a modest increase of inflation tends to reduce the debt burden. This is what occurred for two decades after World War II and led to a rapidly growing economy.
