THEME: INFLATION
Bernanke admits inflation bias...

``In periods when energy prices and utility costs are rising, as in the first half of 2003, the BLS procedure may overstate the deceleration in rents net of utilities and hence in owners' equivalent rent,'' Bernanke said. ``As a result, on this particular count, the slowdown in the CPI inflation may have been slightly overstated in the first half of 2003.''

In the past 12 months, primary rents rose 2.8 percent compared with the 2.1 percent increase in owners' equivalent rents.