Food prices drive April's rise in CPI

Consumer prices rose only 0.2 percent in April, but food prices rose almost 1 percent for the month, the highest monthly jump since 1990, and 5 percent above the previous year.

The real eye-popper, though, was this statistic: The price of gasoline declined 2 percent.

Say what? Millions of U.S. drivers beg to differ.

Here's the reason for the decline: The consumer price index is seasonally adjusted, meaning the usual springtime runup in gas prices was factored out.

On an unadjusted basis, gas prices were up 5.6 percent from March.

Highlights from the April report:

+0.2% So far this year, consumer prices are on track to rise at an annual rate of 3 percent.

+0.9% Fruits and vegetables were up 2 percent, coffee 4 percent, butter a startling 7.8 percent. Beef was down 1.1 percent.

0% A sharp increase in natural gas (4.8 percent) helped offset the decline in gasoline.

+0.2% Rising medical costs have tapered off, up 1.6 percent over the past three months.