For Current And Historical This Release Is Embargoed — 1996-10-16

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.3 percent before seasonal adjustment in September to a level of 157.8 (1982-84=100), the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. For the 12-month period ended in September, the CPI-U increased 3.0 percent. The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) rose 0.4 percent in September, prior to seasonal adjustment. The September 1996 CPI-W level of 155.1 was 3.0 percent higher than the index in September 1995. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the CPI-U rose 0.3 percent in September, following a 0.1 percent increase in August. The food index rose 0.5 percent in September, again reflecting sharp increases in the indexes for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs and for dairy products. The energy index, which declined 3.2 percent in the 3-month period ended in August after advancing 9.4 percent in the prior 6-month period, was unchanged in September.