US consumer prices fall 0.4% in April

US consumer prices fell 0.4 percent in April, driven by a sharp fall in gasoline and other energy prices, the Labor Department said Thursday. Food prices were barely higher and core prices -- excluding food and energy -- were up just 0.1 percent, confirming earlier indications from wholesale prices that there is little inflationary pressure in the US economy, despite the Federal Reserve's huge stimulus program. The consumer price index was up just 1.1 percent year on year, the slowest 12 month pact since June 2011. Food prices rose 1.5 percent while the energy index fell 4.3 percent.