U.S. inflation remained elevated last month as gas prices jumped while the cost of rents and some services cooled, painting a mixed picture of the expenses consumers are facing in a murky economy where growth appears steady but hiring is slow.
Consumer prices increased 3% in September from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Friday, the highest since January and up from 2.9% in August. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices also rose 3%, down from 3.1% in the previous month.
On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.3% in September, down from 0.4% the previous month. Core inflation also cooled to 0.2%, from 0.3% in August.
The report on the consumer price index was issued more than a week late because of the government shutdown, now in its fourth week. The Trump administration recalled some Labor Department employees to produce the figures because they are used to set the annual cost-of-living adjustment for roughly 70 million Social Security recipients.
The figures reflect a smaller increase than many economists forecast and will come as a bit of relief to Federal Reserve officials, who have signaled that they will cut their key interest rate at their meeting next week and may do so again in December. Still, inflation remains above the Fed’s 2% target, underscoring the high stakes of the Fed’s moves.
Gas prices jumped 4.1% just in September from the previous month, a major driver of inflation last month. Grocery prices rose 0.3%, less than in August, and are 2.7% higher than a year ago.
