Consumer Prices Rise

Consumer prices rose 0.2 percent this month, primarily due to the rise in housing costs which were up 0.9 percent last month. The 0.9 increase is the largest increase since January 2001. Consumer prices have increased 4.3 percent this year while inflation is remaining at a steady pace of 2.1 percent. Gasoline prices have been favorable, falling 4.5 percent last month, helping to keep consumer prices from rising even more. Other prices also rose in October. Food costs increased 0.3 percent while medical care prices rose 0.5 percent and the cost of services increased 0.7 percent, the Labor Department said. With fairly small increases in consumer prices things should continue to balance out for the economy. With gas prices becoming more reasonable I’ll be spending less money throughout the rest of the year so there’s only one thing that can mean, it’s time to go buy my new snowboard and lift pass. As you can tell it takes very little for me to justify my purchases, but what the hell, at least I’m spending and helping stimulate the economy.