rose 5.5% on an annual basis. that is the fastest inflation since 1991. and the core rate of 0.6%. john, really important here on energy, energy costs cooled off in december. these numbers would have been even worse if it weren t for a cooling off in energy. for just about everything else, prices went up i m trying to find where prices fell. i can only see vehicle, motor vehicle insurance, and some recreation categories, prices fell just about everything really running at a hot pace here. this is why the economy is strong. this is why the polls show people say they don t feel it because thisere are higher wage. it is sapping confidence. it is dangerous for the lowest income americans, that s where inflation really bites the worst here. so this is still an economic problem and a political problem. the inflation fighter is the fed, of course, the fed switching gears for this year and will be raising interest rates to try to make sure this doesn t become entrenched in the