MARK LENNIHAN / Associated Press Dante Wadley shopped for apples at the Union Square green market yesterday in New York. The Labor Department reported that consumer prices edged up 0.2 percent last month, compared with 0.3 percent in March.

What's Inside Stocks up after prices report More Business

WASHINGTON – Consumer prices slowed in April despite the biggest jump in food costs in nearly two decades. But with oil near record levels, Americans should brace for more pain at the pump in coming months. The Labor Department reported yesterday that consumer prices edged up 0.2 percent last month, slightly lower than expected and better than the 0.3 percent rise in March.

Shares of Jack in the Box fell 10 percent yesterday after the fast-food chain said the sluggish economy hurt second-quarter sales in established stores in California and other markets.

General Electric is planning to sell its appliance division, one of the oldest businesses in the conglomerate's 120-year history, people briefed on the proposal said yesterday. A sale of the unit, which makes refrigerators, microwaves and washer-dryers among other items, could fetch at least $5 billion, these people said.

NEW YORK – A lot has changed in the year and a half since radio industry leader Clear Channel Communications Inc. struck a deal to go private. Credit markets seized up, radio advertising continued to falter and another radio buyout deal failed.

A growing number of Latino consumers in San Diego County own computers and connect to the Internet, and the majority absorb media and advertising in a half-and-half mix of English and Spanish, according to a survey of Latinos in 18 ZIP codes in the county.