Consumer Prices Drop as Gasoline Costs Less
U.S. inflation fell in June as gasoline prices retreated from early summer highs, but rising costs for a host of items including clothes and rent are keeping pressure on households and could complicate any efforts by policy makers to boost the economy.</br></br>Consumer prices fell a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in June from a month earlier, the first drop in a year and a reversal of the 0.2% increase the prior month, the government said Friday.</br></br>A measure of underlying or "core" inflation--watched closely by economists and the Federal Reserve because it strips out volatile energy and food prices--climbed by a monthly 0.3% in June, the same as the month earlier.</br></br>Behind the dip were falling prices for gasoline and other fuels: The energy index declined 4.4% in June, the biggest drop since December 2008.</br></br>The gasoline index tumbled 6.8%. Food prices rose 0.2% in June, the smallest rise so far this year.