News Buzz: Housing Construction Drop, Virginia Tech Anniversary, and More

New data from the Commerce and Labor departments show that March was, as expected, a bad month for consumers. Airline prices rose by 3 percent last month, the sharpest monthly rise in six years. New housing construction dropped 11.9 percent, to 947,000 units — the lowest output in 17 years. Overall, consumer prices rose 0.3 percent, roughly in line with estimates.

One year after Seung Hui Cho blasted into a dorm room and classrooms, killing 32 of his peers and teachers, Virginia Tech is holding a day of mourning. At the stroke of midnight last night, a white candle was lit to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the deadliest campus shooting the country has ever experienced. A ceremony to remember the lives of the dead will be held this morning on the Blacksburg, Va., campus.

On Day 2 of his six-day United States tour, Pope Benedict XVI will be getting star treatment at the White House, where he will receive a cake for his 81st birthday and be greeted by at least 9,000 guests and a 21-gun salute.