Consumer prices up 2.2% for the year

A key index of prices paid by consumers ticked lower in April but is still higher from a year earlier, the government said Wednesday.

The Consumer Price Index, the Labor Department's key measure of inflation, has increased 2.2% over the last year. But that is the smallest 12-month increase since January 1966.
"Inflation continues to be a non-issue," said Anika Khan, Wells Fargo economist, in a research note.

On a monthly basis, CPI fell by 0.1% in April. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expected a 0.1% jump. The decline was largely due to a 1.4% drop in the energy index, the report said.

Despite its April decline, the energy index has soared 18.5% over the last year.