For Current And Historical Material In This — 2001-12-14

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) declined 0.2 percent in November, before seasonal adjustment, to a level of 177.4 (1982- 84=100), the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. For the 12-month period ended in November, the CPI-U increased 1.9 percent. The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) also decreased 0.2 percent in November, prior to seasonal adjustment. The November level of 173.7 was 1.6 percent higher than the index in November 2000. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the CPI-U was unchanged in November after decreasing 0.3 percent in October. The energy index, which declined 6.3 percent in October, fell 4.4 percent in November. The index for petroleum-based energy declined 9.4 percent, while the index for energy services rose 0.1 percent. The food index, which rose 0.5 percent in October, declined 0.1 percent in November.