Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 17, 1994 TAG: 9403170159
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The Labor Department said consumer prices rose at an annual rate of 0.3 percent in February .
"We may not get any further deceleration [in prices], but certainly growth is modest enough to prevent any serious pressures on prices," said economist Sandra Shaber of the WEFA Group in Bala Cynwyd, Pa. "I don't see any sign of significant inflation around."
This view mirrored that of economists after Tuesday's report of a 0.5 percent rise in wholesale prices. That increase, although the sharpest in 10 months, was attributed to higher energy costs and was not considered inflationary.
Bruce Steinberg, an economist with Merrill Lynch & Co. in New York agreed, saying, "Inflation remained well contained in February ... Basically, there is almost no goods inflation in the United States."
Analysts attributed much of the 0.3 percent increase in the Labor Department's Consumer Price Index to winter-related fuel demands, which they said will dissipate with the spring thaws.
Consumers appear to be having less trouble paying their bills. The American Bankers Association said Wednesday that only 1.77 percent of the nation's consumers - the lowest in nearly 10 years - were behind on their loan payments the final three months of 1993.
The decline from the third quarter of last year was the seventh straight and left the seasonally adjusted delinquency rate - loans that were 30 or more days past due - at the lowest level since February 1984.
The Labor Department also reported that average weekly earnings, adjusted for inflation, fell 1.5 percent during the month of February, the largest decline since a similar 1.5 percent decrease in September 1992.
The Consumer Price Index had not risen at all in January - the first month in more than four years there was no increase - and had edged up at an annual rate of only 0.2 percent in December.
The February increase was led by a 1.6 percent surge in energy prices, including a 7.2 percent jump in the cost of heating oil, the first since last June and the largest since a 12.6 percent increase in October 1990.
Other energy-component increases included natural gas, up 1.5 percent; electricity, up 0.3 percent; and gasoline, up 1.8 percent.
Food costs, on the other hand, fell 0.3 percent in February following a 0.1 percent dip in January.
Fresh vegetable prices plunged 4.9 percent, including a 26.6 percent drop for tomatoes. Prices for fresh fruits were down 4.4 percent. Beef costs declined 0.3 percent, and poultry prices edged down 0.1 percent. Pork, on the other hand, rose 1 percent.
Also pushing up the overall total was a 0.5 percent increase in transportation costs, the first since October. But that advance was partly caused by the higher gasoline prices, which have since resumed a yearlong decline.
Housing costs were up 0.4 percent, but this included the fuel and utility increases. Medical-care costs continued to increase modestly, up 0.3 percent for the third straight month.
by CNB