Boston-area consumer prices rise

Boston-area consumer prices rose 3.4 percent in 2007, the largest gain since 4.0 percent in 2002, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.

Nationally, consumer prices rose 4.3 percent in 2007, the highest annual gain since 1990, said the bureau, which is part of the US Department of Labor.

Boston’s increase was primarily due to a 16.8-percent increase in the cost of energy, which was substantially higher than the 0.3- percent gain recorded in 2006, the bureau said.

Boston area motorists saw gasoline prices rise 39.7 percent in 2007, and grocery store prices rose 3.8 percent in 2007, the bureau said.

With energy costs removed, the Boston consumer price index would have risen 2.2 percent, the same rate posted a year earlier, the bureau said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)