According to the ADP Employer Services Report, the private sector added 201,000 new jobs in March, basically in-line with 203,000 new jobs that analysts had been expecting to see.

February's figures were revised downwards to 208,000 from a previously estimated 216,000 new jobs.

March's employment gains bring the four-month average of new jobs to 211,000, more than enough to keep the labor track on path. Analysts estimate that the economy needs to add 125,000 new jobs each month in order to keep up with population growth, so any jobs over that figure result in a lower unemployment figures.

Over the past several weeks, we've seen a sharp run up in commodities, including precious metals, grains, oil and "soft" commodities like cotton, sugar and coffee.

Nevertheless, the Labor Department reported that consumer prices rose only 0.2%, mainly from higher energy costs. The so-called core rate was unchanged for the third straight month, as reported in the Wall Street Journal.

The Labor Department reported that consumer prices rose 0.3% in August. The core Consumer Price Index (CPI) was flat.

These number suggest that inflation is subdued and does not pose an immediate threat to the economy. Now, analysts are speculating about Federal Reserve policies going forward.

The report on consumer prices follows a 0.4% rise in producer prices, after a 0.2% rise in July, as reported in the New York Times.

Retailers don't like competition. As it is, they get enough of it from each other in the pursuit of razor-thin margins. It's standard practice to squeeze manufacturers for lower prices and more concessions as part of this battle.

For years, it's also been the norm for retailers to push back on manufacturers' direct-to-consumer models, as it gives consumers one less reason to enter the store, results in smaller basket sizes and greater pressure on wallet share. When a consumer product giant decides to bypass the retailers, eyebrows rise across the consumer business industry, with manufacturers thinking about new revenue possibilities while retailers worry that other product companies will follow.

You don't need to read the numbers to know that you are paying more to gas up your vehicle. Gasoline prices have risen about 14% last month. The Labor Department reported that consumer prices rose 0.4% in November. The core rate that excludes food and energy was flat. The core rate is meaningless because food and energy are the key costs that affect all Americans.

The Commerce Department reported that new home construction rose 8.9% in November to a seasonally adjusted rate of 574,000 units. That was stronger than economists had predicted. Applications for new building permits were also up 6.0% to 584,000.

The price at the cash register ticked higher in October, though it was driven by the cost at the pump and on the lot.

Energy prices and new car sales (the highest in 28 years) pushed consumer prices upward in October, they're still cheaper than they were a year earlier. The Labor Department reports that consumer prices edged up 0.3% last month, a tad higher than the 0.2% anticipated. Take food and energy out of the equation, and inflation rose 0.2%, again ahead of the 0.1% that analysts expected.

The Labor Department reported a modest increase in consumer prices in September. The increase in the consumer price index was .2% but it was 1.3% lower than last year.

Core CPI also rose .2% The core index excludes food and energy.

There were price increases in used cars and trucks, apparel and medical care. Energy prices climbed .8% in September.

This morning, the Labor Department announced that its consumer price index rose less than expected during May. This data is considered the latest evidence that the recession is continuing, keeping inflation in check. According to the Labor Department, the index increased a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in May, falling short of expectations for a 0.3% rise. Taking food and energy costs out of the equation, core prices increased 0.1%, matching expectations.

The recession is forcing prices lower, with the unemployment rate advancing to a 25-year high, and factories are operating at record-low levels. Some analysts suggest that we could see a period of deflation -- which is a destabilizing period of extended declines. Although lower prices may seem good, deflation could lead to consumers delaying purchases, which could then lead to drops in production and in wage cuts.

If people are going to be broke or out of work, at least the cost of buying goods and services should drop, even if no one can afford them. To some degree, that is what a recession is all about. Cheap stuff can't be sold.

According to Bloomberg, "The cost of living in the U.S. probably fell in November by the most in six decades." The news service reports that consumer prices probably dropped 1.2%.

While it may appear cruel that people cannot buy things when they finally become "affordable," it may be one of the maps out of the recession. If prices keep dropping and housing and employment bottom, the consumer could start spending again. That spending could get aggressive.

The consumer has dragged the country into this recession. Consumer spending is supposed to be about 60% of the U.S. GDP.

Now, the consumer has to spend us out of the downturn. Falling prices for the things he needs, whether that is gas, clothing, or a new car, may just do the trick. Even the pinched can afford goods that have moved ludicrously low.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Talk about a call for a return to a more-accommodative monetary policy.

Investor Mark Mobius said the U.S. Federal Reserve should eventually cut its benchmark, short-term interest rate to 1% to boost the U.S. economy, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday.

"With oil prices beginning to soften, there may be a chance for them to give a boost to the economy by lowering rates again," Mobius told Bloomberg News Tuesday. "It think it's still in the cards, but no one really knows." Mobius oversees about $40 billion in emerging market equities as executive chairman of Templeton Asset Management Ltd.

The doubling of oil prices over the past year and the more than $480 billion in housing-related, credit market write-offs are viewed by many economists as the primary culprits in the U.S. economic slowdown, a slowdown now beginning to dampen global growth, also. Oil prices have retreated about 20% from record-highs, falling to $118 per barrel early Tuesday morning, but unlike Mobius, economist David H. Wang isn't convinced the Fed should hit the 'accommodative button' just yet.

Too soon to lower interest rates?

"I think it would be premature for the Fed to ease rates further. The Fed has used new mechanisms, including the Term Auction Facility and the Term Securities Lending Facility, to help maintain financial system liquidity and the orderly function of markets, and so as long as no further stress events occur in the credit markets, I think they should stand pat on rates," Wang said.

It's a European anti-inflation campaign that will require boldness, creativity, and patience.

That was how one economist described a potential monetary policy tack by the European Central Bank (ECB) for the quarters ahead.

London-based economist Mark Chandler told BloggingStocks that typically, a central bank will increase interest rates to fight inflation. Paradoxically, he's not recommending that the ECB do that now.

"It is a bit of a paradox, but if the ECB raises interest rates it may have the effect of, in fact, increasing inflation," Chandler said. (Euro-zone inflation is presently running at about a 3.7% annualized rate -- well above the ECB 2.0% limit, according to Eurostat.)

Contain commodities prices, contain inflation

Here's how an interest rate hike may hurt inflation's cause: a rate hike would put the euro, once again, in a superior investment position versus the U.S. dollar, causing the already-weak dollar to fall more, Chandler said. As the dollar continues to fall, commodity prices -- including oil -- will continue to rise, as investors seek to preserve purchasing power of the decreased value of dollar-denominated commodities, and as a general inflation hedge.

With oil treading-water well above the $90 mark, a production cut by the world's largest cartel, OPEC, at its March 5 meeting would be "disruptive and scandalous," according to one economist.

Economist Steve Affinito told BloggingStocks Monday the fact that oil surged more than $10 from a pullback to $86 after certain OPEC officials hinted at a spring production cut underscores the thin margin -- or safety cushion -- that exists between global oil supply and demand. Oil closed Monday up 42 cents to $99.23.

"OPEC says it's concerned about rising oil inventories this spring due to the sluggish U.S. economy but it conveniently forgets the small safety cushion. If markets were so well supplied as they say, oil prices wouldn't jump $5 or $10 every time an OPEC oil minister expresses the slightest concern about rising inventories," Affinito said. "The fact remains that although oil markets may be 'well supplied' there's very little margin for error or production break-downs in the international oil system."

China will maintain a tight monetary policy, a vice governor for China's central bank, the People's Bank of China, said Monday, China's government-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

"The primary risk to China's economy is inflation and the government will stick to the tight monetary policy," Central Bank Governor Yi Gang said. To soak-up liquidity, the central bank will select an optimal package of currency, interest rate and money-supply measures, Gang said.

Chinese officials have re-focused their efforts on inflation after its surging economy and a series of large snowstorms led to the nation's highest inflation rate in January 2008 -- a 7.1% annualized rate -- since its transition from a centrally-planned to a market-based economy. Earlier, China shifted its monetary policy "from prudent to tight" in 2008 to prevent overheating and a surge in inflation.

China: inflation concerns

Economist David H. Wang told BloggingStocks Monday China's tight monetary policy is warranted, but he expects it to have more of an impact on business-to-business prices, what the United States calls a producer price index or PPI, than on consumer-level inflation.

Consumer prices rose 0.3% in December, above the 0.2% consensus estimate, but the core rate rose just 0.2%, in-line with the 0.2% consensus estimate, the U.S. Labor Department announced Wednesday.

Prices at the retail level increased at an above-average rate during 2007. For 2007, consumer prices increased 4.1% - - the biggest increase since 1990. Energy prices rose 17.4% in 2007 while food advanced 4.9%.

Meanwhile the core CPI rate increased 2.4% last year - - above the Federal Reserve's 'comfort zone' for inflation. The Fed uses the core CPI rate as the primary gauge of consumer-based inflation.

In December, energy prices rose 0.9%, gasoline increased 1.1%, natural gas climbed 2.3%, medical expenses increases 0.3%, and housing prices rose 0.3%.

Economic Analysis: A lukewarm CPI statistic. December's 0.3% CPI increase was above the consensus estimate, but the core CPI rate rose just 0.2%. The December core statistic should help convince the Fed that inflation - - while still at intolerable levels as measured by the producer price index (PPI) - - has not shown up fully yet at the retail level. That should enable the Fed to cut interest rates by 50 basis points at its next meeting, and later this winter to help stimulate the slowing U.S. economy.

While most Asian markets were tumbling today amid anxiety over the assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, Japan brings some additional worries regarding the outlook for the world's second-biggest economy .

According to the Japanese government, consumer prices saw their biggest rise in almost a decade because of higher energy costs, while industrial production lost ground. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications also reported that the core consumer price index rose 0.4% in November, which was the biggest increase since a 1.8% increase in March 1998. The main culprits for the massive increase were energy prices, which jumped 5.4%, and gasoline prices, which climbed 10.8% over the year.

Despite the fact that the nation's jobless rate saw an unexpected decline of 3.8% in November, the Bank of Japan decided to keep interest rates unchanged. A rise in consumer prices was perceived by the Bank as a sign that the country was able to surpass the deflation that Japan had to fight with over the past few years.