Consumer Price Index Falls by Most in More Than 3 Years

The consumer price index fell 0.3% in May, the biggest decline since December 2008, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The government’s main inflation gauge dropped more than economists' projections of a 0.2% decline, Bloomberg reported.

The reading was unchanged in April.

The core CPI rate excluding food and energy rose 0.2% for a third straight month.

Almost 60% of the CPI covers prices consumers pay for services. If consumer prices are climbing, it could reflect an increase in demand for consumer goods, which increases the demand for trucking services.