Prices Pared

Some retail prices edged upward in December, among them used cars, fuel oil, fresh vegetables and beef, but the ups were more than balanced by the downs--new cars, gasoline, fresh fruits, pork, eggs, movie admissions, women's clothing. Net result, as reported last week by the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics: after creeping up to the alltime peak last November, consumer prices slipped downward a little in December to pare the BLS consumer price index two-tenths of a point, to 123.7 (the 1947-49 average: 100). Price forecast for 1959, as most economists see it: renewed upcreep.

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