Honolulu's inflation rate cooled slightly in 2008, though still advanced by 4.3 percent for the year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The bureau, which releases consumer price index numbers every six months, said last year's increase was paced by gains in grocery prices and the cost of gasoline and electricity.

Last year marked the second consecutive year that price growth has slowed in Honolulu. Inflation has been coming down since 2006, when the CPI rose by 5.9 percent, or the highest in 15 years at the time.

BLS spokesman Amar Mann said Honolulu's rate was higher than the national city average rate of 3.8 percent in 2008. He noted the national and Honolulu's rate would have been higher if not for an economic slowdown that accelerated in September and resulted in slower consumer spending.

"But for all of 2008 Hawai'i did outpace the rest of the nation," Mann said.

Other figures produced by Bureau of Labor Statistics show there was a sharp decline in price growth in Honolulu from the first half of 2008 to the second half.