Consumer inflation rose at a faster pace than expected in September

Published October 14, 2026 8:33am EDT Labor Department releases closely watched September CPI inflation report This story about the September CPI inflation report will be updated with further details. Inflation accelerated in September as the pace of consumer price growth trended higher due to elevated energy prices.The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said on Wednesday that the consumer price index (CPI) – a broad measure of how much everyday goods like gasoline, groceries and rent cost – increased 0.6% on a monthly basis and is up 3.7% from a year ago. Expectations vs. realityThe monthly figure was in line with the estimates of economists polled by LSEG, while the annual figure came in hotter than the estimate of 3.6%. The monthly data rate picked up following a reading of 0.4% in August, while the annual figure also trended higher from 3.4% the prior month. So-called core prices, which exclude volatile measurements of gasoline and groceries to better assess price growth trends, were up 0.3% on a monthly basis and 2.6% from a year ago. Both of those figures were hotter than the expectations of economists polled by LSEG, who predicted a monthly rise of 0.2% and an annual increase of 2.5%.The cost of living breakdownWhat experts are saying