For Current And Historical Material In This — 1999-10-19

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 0.5 percent in September, before seasonal adjustment, to a level of 167.9 (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 2.6 percent. The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) rose 0.5 in September, prior to seasonal adjustment. The September level of 164.7 was 2.8 percent higher than the index in September 1998. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the CPI-U rose 0.4 percent in September, following increases of 0.3 percent in each of the preceding two months. In September, energy costs increased sharply for the third consecutive month--up 1.7 percent--accounting for about one quarter of the advance in the overall CPI-U. The index for petroleum-based energy rose 2.7 percent in September, and the index for energy services increased 0.8 percent.