US Consumer Prices Rise 0.6% in September, Up 3.7% Year Over Year
Gasoline drove a broad September inflation increase, with the CPI climbing 0.6% for the month and 3.7% annually.
U.S. consumer prices accelerated in September, with the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers rising 0.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. On an unadjusted basis, prices climbed 3.7 percent compared with the same month a year earlier, underscoring persistent inflationary pressure across the economy.
Gasoline was a primary driver of the monthly increase, pushing the headline figure notably higher after energy costs had exerted less influence in prior months. The September reading signals that progress toward the Federal Reserve's 2 percent inflation target remains uneven, as energy price swings continue to complicate the broader picture.
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So-called core inflation — which strips out volatile food and energy categories — rose a more modest 0.3 percent for the month, landing at 2.6 percent on a 12-month basis. The divergence between headline and core readings highlights how much of September's inflationary jolt was concentrated in energy rather than broadly embedded across goods and services.
Policymakers and market participants will scrutinize the data closely as the Federal Reserve weighs whether additional interest-rate increases are warranted to bring inflation fully under control. The persistence of above-target annual price growth, even as core pressures show some moderation, keeps the central bank's path forward uncertain heading into the final months of 2023.
Continue reading at Consumer Price Index
