Inflation Rate in 24 Industrial Nations Rose in February

PARIS — Consumer prices in the 24 Western industrialized countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development accelerated in February, rising to 2.4% from a year earlier, compared to 1.9% in January, officials said Friday.

An OECD communique said prices increased because the effects of a sharp drop in energy prices in February, 1986, worked their way out of the index.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.3% in February, down from 0.4% in January but slightly above the average for the later months of 1986.

Among the seven leading industrial countries, consumer price inflation in the year to February was highest in Italy at 4.2%, followed by Canada with 4%, Britain 3.9%, France 3.4%, the United States 2.1%, and West Germany and Japan with negative inflation rates of 0.5% and 1.4% respectively.