Hot on the heels of Wednesday's inflation report that showed wholesale prices actually deflating March to April, today's retail inflation report was also quite tame. The Consumer Price Index for April rose just one-tenth of a percent. A big drop in food and oil prices offset a strange surge in airline tickets and clothing costs. Apparel prices rose nine-tenths of a percent, the biggest monthly jump in more than four years. From New York, Marketplace's Michelle Brier reports.
Nobody seems to know.
And storekeepers in lower Manhattan, who have experienced a slump in apparel sales for the last three years, say that hasn't changed. A manager of Modell's sports, a sportswear and sporting goods store on Broadway, says competition is cutthroat and the customer is still looking for a bargain. I'm Michelle Brier for Marketplace. The stock market spent much of the day doing a whole lot of nothing, with key indices bobbing around the unchanged mark. The Nasdaq Composite had a good day, rising one and one-third percent.