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The cost of living in the U.S. rose in March for a ninth consecutive month, led by increases in food and fuel costs that have yet to filter down to other goods and services. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
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The cost of living in the U.S. rose in March for a ninth consecutive month, led by increases in food and fuel costs that have yet to filter down to other goods and services.
The consumer-price index increased 0.5 percent for a second month, in line with the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, figures from the Labor Department showed today in Washington. Excluding volatile food and energy, the so- called core gauge rose 0.1 percent, less than forecast and restrained by lower clothing expenses and smaller gains in medical care.
Unemployment at 8.8 percent and falling wages adjusted for inflation mean retailers and service providers will have a hard time passing price increases along to customers. Rising food and gasoline prices are limiting consumer purchases of other goods, slowing the economic recovery.
“There are fairly subdued pressures outside of food and energy,” said Sal Guatieri, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets Inc. in Toronto, who correctly forecast the core rate. “There is still little appetite on the part of consumers to absorb cost increases and retailers are finding it difficult to pass rising input costs onto consumers, largely because consumer wages are rising very modestly.”
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