Newsroom

April 15, 2014

Consumer prices up 0.2% in March

April 16, 2014 – Overall consumer prices increased 0.2 percent in March on a monthly basis, according to data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and analyzed by NAFCU Research Assistant Doug Christman.

For the 12-month period, overall consumer price index growth was 1.5 percent, up from 1.1 percent in February. "The increase in year-over-year growth is primarily due to rising crop prices," Christman said in a NAFCU Macro Data Flash report.

Core prices – excluding food and energy costs – rose 0.2 percent in March month over month, which followed a 0.1 percent increase in February. "On a year-over-year basis, core CPI remained at 1.6 percent and has been relatively stable over the past 11 months," Christman said.

Energy prices decreased 0.1 percent in March following a 0.5 percent decrease in February. From a year ago, energy prices were up 0.6 percent. Food prices increased 0.4 percent in March following an increase of 0.4 percent in February; they were up 1.7 percent on a year-over-year basis.