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Consumer Prices Edge Up 0.1 Percent in August; Gasoline, Air Fares Down  

Consumer inflation edged up by 0.1 percent in August as lower prices for gasoline, tobacco and airline fares helped to blunt higher costs for medical care, the government reported Tuesday.

The small advance in the Labor Department's Consumer Price Index, a closely watched inflation gauge, came after consumer prices had plummeted by 0.3 percent in July, the biggest drop in 15 years. . .

The core rate of inflation so far this year has increased at a rate of 2.9 percent, reflecting in part higher prices for medical care, shelter and tobacco products. For all of 2000, core inflation was up 2.6 percent.

But in August prices for tobacco and other smoking products plunged 3.8 percent, the biggest drop since September 1993. [This graph only]

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