Prices for many items costing less

The consumer price index — a measure of the cost of goods and services — fell for the third straight month in June, approaching a Depression-era record of four months in a row.

The index fell a tenth of a percent from May, according to federal data released Friday.

The decline was due to lower gas prices and stable prices on food, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report.

In the short term, that means people are paying less. In the long term, it could spell trouble, researchers say.

For those with stable incomes, “the prices you are paying fall ... you are in effect richer,” said Christopher McCarty, director of the University of Florida Survey Research Center at the University of Florida’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research.

Read story:
Prices for many items costing less - St. Augustine Record - July 20, 2010