A widely watched gauge of inflation fell again in August, providing fresh evidence that prices, which have climbed steadily for most of the year, may now be settling down, the New York Times reports.
The Labor Department reported today that the producer price index, which measures the wholesale prices that businesses charge one another, rose just 0.1 percent overall, matching the slowest pace of growth seen so far this year. More tellingly, the so-called core index, excluding the volatile prices of food and energy, declined in August, as it did in July.
