The cost of living in the United States fell in April for the first time in more than a year, Bloomberg reported.

According to figures released today by the Labor Department in the Consumer Price Index declined 0.1 percent, the first such drop since March 2009.

The news reinforced forecasts that Federal Reserve policy-makers will keep interest rates near zero for much of 2010.

Retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. are slashing prices to beef up sales as customers face a nearly 10 percent unemployment rate and an increasing number of foreclosures.

The European debt crisis, which has pushed up the value of the dollar and may temper global growth, will likely further depress prices at a time when inflation is already running below the projections of Fed policy-makers.

“There simply isn’t any kind of price pressure of any consequence,” said David Resler, chief economist at Nomura Securities International Inc. in New York. “This puts the Fed firmly in place for the foreseeable future.”