Inflation, as measured by the producer price index, fell a tenth of a percentage point to 1.8% for the year ending in September, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday in some good news for the Federal Reserve and Vice President Kamala Harris.

The decline is welcome news for the economy, which has been strained under the burden of inflation.

The downward dip was slightly smaller than expected.

On a month-to-month basis, prices did not rise.

The producer price index, which is different from the more commonly cited consumer price index, is based on prices received by various producers and sellers of goods and services. The CPI data were released on Thursday and showed that inflation fell a tenth of a percentage point to 2.4% for the year ending in September.

That is nearing the Fed’s 2% goal, although CPI inflation didn’t cool as much as expected in the latest report — which is the last such one before the November election, which pits Harris against former President Donald Trump.

Inflation, as tracked by the CPI, is now the lowest it has been since February 2021, shortly after President Joe Biden was sworn in.

The economy, and specifically inflation, has been the biggest issue for voters this cycle. Republicans blame years of cumulative inflation on the Biden administration and are working to handcuff Harris to the administration’s low economic approval ratings.

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While, on balance, inflation has been falling, the labor market has recently showed a few signs of sputtering — including downward revisions to jobs reports throughout the year.

But the last jobs report ahead of the election came in relatively hot, good news for Harris. The economy added 254,000 jobs in September, and the unemployment rate fell to 4.1%.