Consumer prices fall

Thursday, Aug. 16, 2001 | 10:45 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Consumer prices in July registered the biggest decline in 15 years, pushed down by a sharp drop in the cost of gasoline and other energy products.

The decline reported today was the first drop in consumer prices this year and the best showing on inflation since a 0.4 percent decrease was registered in April 1986.

The 0.3 percent decrease in the Labor Department's Consumer Price Index, a closely watched inflation gauge, followed a 0.2 percent increase in June.

So far this year, consumer prices have increased at an annual rate of 2.8 percent, compared with an increase of 3.4 percent for all of 2000.

"Inflation is flat on its back," declared Bill Cheney, chief economist at John Hancock Financial Services.

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