Prices: Back on the Treadmill

The payoff for rising unemployment was supposed to be a tapering of inflation. That looked reasonable in August, when retail prices rose at an annual rate of only 2.4%. Last week, however, the Government reported that consumer prices in September jumped at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6%—almost equal to the fastest pace last winter. The rise, combined with a shrinkage in the average working week, ended a four-month increase in workers' purchasing power. Weekly spendable earnings, measured in 1957-59 dollars, dropped 83¢ in September to $77.68.

The September price spurt might be a misleading one-month wiggle—as the Administration...

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