A measure of inflation that is closely monitored by the Federal Reserve remained painfully high last month, the latest sign that prices for most goods and services in the U.S. are still rising steadily.
This morning’s report from the Commerce Department showed that prices rose 6.2% in September from 12 months earlier, the same year-over-year rate as in August.
Excluding volatile food and energy costs, so-called core prices rose 5.1% last month from a year earlier. That’s faster than the 4.9% annual increase in August, though below a four-decade high of 5.4% reached in February.
Wages and benefits rose 5% in the July-September quarter from a year ago. That was a healthy gain, just below a two-decade high of 5.1% reached in the April-June quarter.
Still, there are signs that pay growth is cooling a bit. On a quarterly basis, it rose 1.2% from the April-June quarter to the July-September period. Yet that marked a second straight quarterly slowdown after compensation growth had reached a 20-year high of 1.4% in the first three months of 2022. Â
The report also shows consumers spent more last month, even after adjusting for inflation, a sign of Americans’ willingness to keep spending in the face of high prices. Consumer spending increased 0.6% from August to September, or 0.3% after accounting for price increases. Read the full story.
