Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 18, 1992                   TAG: 9203180111
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX: WHAT IT MEANS, IN BRIEF . . .

\ $138.60 last month

\ $134.80 in February 1991

\ $128 in February 1990

February highlights:

\ The index increased 0.1 percent in January, 0.2 percent in December and 0.4 percent in November.

\ Consumer prices for the first two months of 1992 rose 2.2 percent at an annual rate.

\ Most analysts expect prices to rise between 3 percent and 3.5 percent for the year, up from 3.1 percent in 1991, well below the 6.1 percent in 1990.

\ Energy prices declined 0.9 percent in February. The recovery is expected to boost demand for energy and eventually drive up prices.

\ Gasoline prices fell 0.5 percent in February after a 1.9 percent drop in January. They are 18.6 percent lower than their peak in November 1990.

\ New-car prices rose 0.1 percent, but the cost of used cars fell 0.6 percent for the third straight month. Auto financing charges fell 2.7 percent.

\ Medical care was up 0.8 percent to a level 7.9 percent higher than a year ago.

\ Average weekly earnings rose 1.2 percent last month after a 0.7 percent decline in January.

\ Analysts say:

"Inflation generally goes down in the early stages of a recovery. I suspect that over the next few months, we'll continue to get low numbers." John Silvia, Kemper Financial Services, Chicago.

"Typically, what we see in the early stages of a recovery is a window of six to nine months that inflation stays the same and then begins to notch up." Michael P. Niemira, Mitsubishi Bank, New York.