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Article: Prices up just 2.5% for year, extending low-inflation streak '95 figures prompt calls for interest rate cuts
- Article from:
- The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Milwaukee, WI)
- Article date:
- February 2, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1996 The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Consumer prices rose just 2.5% in 1995, helped by the smallest
increase in health costs in 23 years. It was the nation's fourth
straight year of moderate inflation, the best run since the 1960s.
Analysts said the exceptional news on inflation, plus new signs
of economic weakness, should provide fresh incentives for the
Federal Reserve to cut interest rates further.
"The inflation number is very non-threatening," said Robert
Dederick, chief economic consultant at Northern Trust Co. of Chicago.
"Today's risk is an economy that does not have enough juice, not one
that has too much."
The Labor Department reported Thursday that inflation rose just
0.2% in December despite a temporary jump in ...