Soaring Food, Oil Prices Still Don't Indicate Real Inflation, Economists Say
Despite American consumers being hard hit by rising gas and grocery prices, federal regulators continue to insist the country need not fear inflation. Gas prices, which rose nearly 6 percent in March alone, are now almost 28 percent higher than they were a year ago, according to figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Friday. Overall, the Consumer Price Index, a closely-watched measure of inflation, rose 0.5 percent in March, the Labor Department reported. The Consumer Price Index tracks changes in the cost of a virtual basket of goods for consumers in cities across the country. Rising food and gas prices accounted for almost three quarters of the March CPI increase. Those findings are in line with economists' expectations. Still, the Federal Reserve has no plans to combat inflation by raising interest rates; many economists argue that higher food and energy prices do not necessarily trigger overall price increases for goods and services. "Prices for energy are ce...