Consumer Prices Plunge in November

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L.L. Bean in Freeport, Maine

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Consumer prices plunged last month at the steepest rate in 56 years because of a sharp decline in oil and gasoline prices, the government reported today, adding to other signs that the national economy has largely rebounded from the effects of the recent hurricanes.

The consumer price index, a widely followed measure of inflation, fell 0.6 percent in November -- the largest drop since July 1949 -- primarily because of an 8 percent drop in energy costs, the Labor Department said.