For Current And Historical This Release Is Embargoed — 1996-06-12

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.2 percent before seasonal adjustment in May to a level of 156.6 (1982- 84=100), the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. For the 12-month period ended in May, the CPI-U increased 2.9 percent. The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) rose 0.3 percent in May, prior to seasonal adjustment. The May 1996 CPI-W level of 154.0 was 2.9 percent higher than the index in May 1995. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the CPI-U rose 0.3 percent in May, following increases of 0.4 percent in each of the 2 preceding months. The energy index registered its sixth consecutive increase--up 1.1 percent in May--after declining throughout most of 1995, and accounted for about one-fourth of the May advance in the overall CPI-U.