A record plunge in the price of gasoline in the United States in November pulled consumer prices to their biggest drop in over 50 years, the U.S. government said today.

Last month’s drop of 0.6% in the Consumer Price Index was the largest on record since the 0.9% retreat back in July 1949, the U.S. Labor Department said.

Economists had been expecting a pullback of 0.4% last month.

Boosted by production disruptions in the wake of hurricanes that hit the U.S. Gulf Coast, the nationwide price of gasoline briefly rose above $3 US per gallon in early September.

However, prices have declined since then. Gasoline prices fell by about 42¢ per gallon in November.

The U.S. government said gasoline prices fell by a record 16% in the November inflation report, after a 4.5% decline in October.

After factoring out the volatile food and energy categories, consumer prices were up by a modest 0.2%.