Consumer Prices Fall Most Since 1950

Washington, DC, Aug. 14, 2009--U.S. consumer prices were down 2.1% year-over-year in the sharpest annual decline since 1950, the Labor Department reported Friday.

However, prices remained flat from June.

Analysts had expected no change in the monthly consumer price index. For July, energy prices fell 0.4%, and food prices fell 0.3%, while prices rose for goods such as new vehicles, tobacco, medical care and apparel.

The core CPI, which excludes often-volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.1% in July, matching analysts' expectations.

Shelter prices in July fell 0.2%, the largest decline since 1982, while prices for meat, poultry, fish and eggs fell 1.3%, the largest decline since 1979. In June the overall CPI rose 0.7%, while the core gained 0.2%.