Inflation rose as expected last month, as the lingering impact of the yearslong above-trend price increases continues to weigh on the minds of Americans.
Annual inflation is far closer to the historic norm than it was a few years ago, but the lingering ... [+]
Consumer prices rose 2.6% from October 2023 to last month, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Tuesday morning, meeting average economist estimates of 2.6% headline inflation, according to FactSet.
It’s the first time since March annual inflation was up month-over-month, with inflation coming in at a 3.5-year low of 2.4% last month.
Core inflation, which excludes more volatile food and energy subindexes, was 3.3% in October, matching forecasts of 3.3%, where it stood in September.
20.5%. That’s how much the consumer price index has increased cumulatively since Dec. 2020, equating to 5.3% annualized inflation.
Core and headline CPI inflation have been above the long-term 2% target since early 2021 even as prices stabilized significantly from the multidecade highs hit in 2022. But the U.S. bout of inflation came as countries around the world navigated high prices as several factors, including pandemic-related supply chain snags, higher commodity prices from armed conflicts and the impact of government stimulus spending to jumpstart the sudden shock of COVID-19 lockdowns, came to a head. Polls prior to last week’s election largely found inflation was a top issue for American voters in selecting a president, and CNN exit polls found voters who said inflation caused their family hardship heavily sided with GOP candidate Donald Trump. Though inflation was far better during Trump’s first presidency than it has been during Joe Biden’s term, economists largely view economic policies backed by Trump, such as high tariffs, as inflationary.