Consumer Inflation Moderates Slightly In April

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Consumer inflation eased a bit in April even though gasoline prices surged for a second straight month. <br/><br/>Consumer prices rose by 0.4 percent last month following a 0.6 percent

Tuesday, May 15th 2007, 7:41 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Consumer inflation eased a bit in April even though gasoline prices surged for a second straight month.

Consumer prices rose by 0.4 percent last month following a 0.6 percent jump in March, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. The April increase was slightly better than expected although gasoline pump prices jumped by 4.7 percent after an even bigger 10.6 percent March advance.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, edged up just 0.2 percent as falling prices for clothing, airline tickets and tobacco products helped restrain underlying inflation.