Prices are tumbling in America as the coronavirus lockdown drags on and people spend less.
US consumer prices declined for the second-straight month in April, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Tuesday. Prices fell by 0.8% on a seasonally adjusted basis in April, marking the largest drop since December 2008.
That's an alarming drop, dragged down primarily by falling gasoline and energy prices. But excluding volatile food and energy, prices still fell by 0.4%. That's the largest monthly decline in the so-called core consumer price index since the BLS began tracking the data in 1957.
Falling prices might sound like a good thing, but economists agree that deflation — the opposite of inflation — would be very bad news.
Anneken Tappe | CNN Business