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Apparel prices rose in October

By FashionUnited

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American retail apparel prices rose 0.7 percent in October, as the holiday shopping season begins,

the Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index showed Thursday.

Women’s apparel prices, driven by an increase in the outerwear category, rose 1.1 percent last month, while men’s apparel prices decreased, falling 1 percent last month.

Girl’s apparel prices increased 5.7 percent last month, while boy’s apparel prices rose 0.8 percent.

Within the women’s category, outerwear prices increased 9.7 percent in October.

Retail prices on broad category of underwear, nightwear, sportswear and accessories rose 1.1 percent, while prices on suits and separates rose 0.4 percent.

“The increase in apparel prices is pretty sizable,” said Jeet Dutta, senior economist at Moody’s Analytics. “It is a bit surprising how strong the price gains have been in apparel overall and last month’s gains were concentrated in women’s apparel, while the men’s and boy’s category fell quite sharply.”

Dutta attributed the increase in women’s apparel prices partly to higher petroleum prices that affected man-made fiber categories, and a stronger demand.

“Overall, consumer prices are expected to remain relatively accommodative for the holiday season,” said Leslie Levesque, senior economist at IHS Global Insight. “Falling gasoline prices should alleviate some of the burden in travel costs, adding to savings from easing prices in other services categories. Rising food prices will be a downer, but can be more manageable in a lower gasoline price environment.”
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