Consumers show signs of life as prices stay low

    WASHINGTON (AP) - Most economists expect the lack of inflation to continue when the Labor Department reports the September Consumer Price Index.
    Economists forecast that consumer prices rose just 0.2 percent in September, after a 0.4 percent gain in August and a flat reading in July.
    With inflation nowhere to be found, consumers may be slowly regaining their appetite to shop, as the prices they encounter in stores remain low.
    In the past year, consumer prices are forecast to have fallen 1.4 percent, according to a survey of Wall Street economists by Thomson Reuters.
    Separately, economists believe new claims for jobless benefits likely rose slightly last week to 525,000. First-time claims, a gauge of recent layoffs, fell by more than 30,000 in the prior week to their lowest level since early January.

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