Led by a 7% drop in energy prices, the U.S. Labor Departments Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell half a percentage point in October. The seasonally adjusted figure matched Septembers half-percent decline and was two-tenths of a percentage point greater than the three-tenths decline that economists generally expected.
In addition to energy, prices for apparel and transportation fell in October. Housing prices were unchanged.
The so-called core CPI, which does not include price changes for food and fuel, rose just a tenth of a percentage point in October, half the two-tenths percent increase most economists expected. For the three months ending in October, the core CPI increased at a 2.3% compound annual rate.
