Consumer Prices Edge Higher in May

Washington, DC, June 17, 2009--U.S. consumer prices increased a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in May as higher gasoline prices were largely offset by falling food prices, the Labor Department reported Wednesday.

It was the first increase in the consumer price index in three months. The core CPI -- which excludes often-volatile food and energy prices -- also rose a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in May.

The CPI has fallen 1.3% in the past year, the sharpest decline in prices since April 1950. The 0.1% rise in the headline CPI in May was much lower than the 0.3% forecast by economists.