ECONOMIC DATA

CONSUMER, PRODUCER PRICES ROSE IN APRIL

Rising gasoline costs probably led consumer and wholesale prices higher in April, economists said in advance of reports this week. Except for food and energy, though, retailers likely avoided passing on higher costs to customers in an effort to bolster sales.

The consumer price index likely increased 0.4% last month after rising 0.6% in February, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey before the Labor Department’s report Wednesday. The producer price index, which will be issued a day earlier, probably rose 0.4% after increasing 0.7%.Core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy costs, probably rose 0.2%, the smallest increase in three months, according to the survey. The figures bolster Federal Reserve policymakers’ view that inflation won’t accelerate, allowing the central bank to keep raising the target interest rate in a series of quarter-percentage-point increments.

– Bloomberg News

DRUGS IN THE WORKPLACE

GROWTH OF METHAMPHETAMINE USE IN THE WORKFORCE SLOWS

Employers are catching more workers using methamphetamine, but the drug’s spread into the workplace appears to have slowed considerably, a new study has found.

Employers who screen job applicants and workers for drugs saw the number testing positive for amphetamines increase by 6% last year. Positive tests for methamphetamine, one of two stimulants in that class of drugs, increased 3%, according to a report to be released today by Quest Diagnostics, one of the country’s largest drug screening firms.

The figures are based on the results of 7.2 million workplace drug tests conducted in 2004 by Teterboro, N.J.-based Quest.

– Associated Press