Consumer prices register largest annual drop since 1950

It doesn't take a Harvard economist to deduce the following: there's little pricing power in the U.S. economy.

Consumer prices increased a minuscule 0.1 percent in May, the U.S. Labor Department announced Wednesday, as falling food prices slightly offset rising gasoline prices.

Further, the core rate -- which excludes the often-volatile food and energy component -- also rose just 0.1 percent. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News had expected May consumer prices and the core rate to rise 0.1 percent. Consumer prices were flat in April and declined 0.1 percent in March.