
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, March 19, 1991                   TAG: 9103190425
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

INFLATION SLOWED IN FEBRUARY

Consumer prices, eased by another drop in gasoline costs, edged up a tiny 0.2 percent in February, the smallest advance in nine months, the government said today.

The slight advance in the Labor Department's Consumer Price Index, if it continued for 12 months, would translate into an annual inflation rate of 2.7 percent, far below the 6.1 percent increase recorded last year.

The modest February gain, which was also eased by a big moderation in food costs, followed increases of 0.4 percent in January and 0.3 percent in December.

As in the past three months, the good news on inflation came courtesy of a big drop in energy prices.

by CNB