U.S. consumer prices once again showed an increase in September more than expected. This indirectly continues the inflation rate and adds to the pressure on the economy.
The consumer price index rose 0.4% in September compared to August based on data released by the Department of Labor released on Wednesday. Compared to last year, the CPI rose 5.4, equivalent to the largest annual increase since 2008. Regardless of the volatile food and energy component, core inflation rose 0.2% from the previous month.
Challenges such as material shortages, shipping costs, high commodity prices and rising wages have driven up costs for producers. This became a contributing factor to the rise in prices and ultimately led to the continued growth of inflation.
The increase in price increases seen last month reflected higher food and shelter costs.
The report is likely to reinforce the Fed’s tendency to immediately begin reducing its asset purchases, especially as supply chain challenges plaguing business show signs of a downturn.
Market focus is now focused on the FOMC meeting early Thursday morning to get further indications of the Fed’s next move. The US dollar index, which measures the US currency against six major currencies, traded down 0.12% to 94.407 after the report was released.
