Paying the price: Consumer prices rose modestly in January on higher costs for food, gas, rent and clothing. But economists downplayed the increase, saying inflation will likely ease in the coming months as prices for raw materials level off. The consumer price index increased 0.2% last month, after a flat reading in December, the Labor Department reports this morning. Excluding volatile food and energy, so-called core prices ticked up 0.2%. A big reason for the increase was that clothing prices jumped 0.9%. Medical care, rent and tobacco prices also increased. Car prices were unchanged, and airfares fell. Get the full story from The Associated Press here.
Pollsters and poll stars: Slide to Dec. 1, 2011, on the USA Today presidential poll tracker and you’ll see Rick Santorum at the bottom of the GOP field, polling at about 2.4%. But go to today’s poll, and you’ll see Santorum leading the field, with 33.8%—and you won’t even find four of the candidates who were ahead of him back in December. Give yourself a break from the grind today and check out the interactive poll tracker here, where you can also track all the delegate votes and state primary results.
Today’s poll question: Do you think the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board made the right choice in selecting Carlos Sam as the district’s interim superintendent?
