Inflation Tame; Housing Starts Rise

Inflation in the United States was dormant last month outside a jump in energy costs, while groundbreaking for new homes rebounded with surprising vigor after a big weather-related drop, the government said.

The consumer price index rose 0.3% last month, the Labor Department said. Excluding food and energy prices, the CPI was flat -- the tamest reading on so-called core inflation since February 1999.

A separate report showed housing starts leapt 8.3% last month -- the largest gain since September -- to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.78 million units, well above the 1.69-million pace analysts had expected.