Area's year-to-year prices up 2.7% in Dec.

Prices in the metropolitan area last month had their smallest year-over-year increase since the spring, with the cost of gasoline, groceries and health care rising the most.

The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday its consumer price index rose 2.7 percent in December compared with 2010 in the 31-county region that includes Long Island. The year-over-year gain was the smallest since April's 2.5 percent rise.

The index climbed 3.0 percent in November, year over year.

Month over month, prices fell 0.4 percent in December compared with November. That was the third consecutive monthly drop in 2011.

Moderating gasoline prices helped to offset higher prices for bread, eggs, lettuce, fresh fruits and other food, said Denis M. McSweeney, acting regional commissioner for the federal Department of Labor, which oversees the statistics bureau.

Grocery prices, year over year, were up 5.5 percent in December.

Pump prices fell 3.2 percent last month from November, continuing a string of monthly declines not seen since 2001-02. However, gasoline cost 9.9 percent more in December than a year earlier.

Aboard a Long Island Rail Road train from Long Beach to Manhattan Thursday, some commuters were frustrated by the high cost of food and fuel.

"They say prices are falling, but I don't see it," said Bill Owens, 31, a construction worker from Lynbrook. "Have you seen the price of bread, vegetables and milk? It's ridiculous."

Excluding food and energy, the price index rose 2.4 percent in the past year. The biggest increase was for medical care, 4 percent.

Nationally, the annual inflation rate was 3 percent in December. Ryan Wang, an economist for HSBC Securities USA, predicted year-over-year increases in the national price index would "fall below 2 percent" by April.

Separately Thursday, the state Taxation and Finance Department released data for December about shopping activity on Long Island. December sales-tax receipts climbed 8.7 percent in Nassau County from a year earlier and were up 5.8 percent in Suffolk County. For the full year, receipts rose 1.8 percent in Nassau compared with 2010, and increased 2.9 percent in Suffolk.