Consumer Prices | featured news

Consumer prices were flat in July as energy costs retreated following a big surge in June. Over the past 12 months, prices dropped the most in nearly six decades as the recession and lower energy costs kept a lid on inflation.

The 0.7 percent pace in June was slightly faster than expected, but the core inflation measure remained relatively tame.

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The docile inflation performance reflected a second monthly drop in energy costs and a third consecutive decline in food prices.

Consumer prices dipped unexpectedly in March, leaving prices over the past year falling at the fastest clip in more than a half-century. The recession is expected to keep a lid on inflation as widespread layoffs dampen wage pressures and weak demand keeps companies from raising prices.

Consumer prices rose in February by the largest amount in seven months as gasoline prices surged again and clothing costs jumped the most in nearly two decades.

Consumer prices fell by a slightly smaller-than-expected margin in December, according to government data on Friday that showed a sagging economy was exerting downward pressure on prices and raising the specter of deflation.