US Inflation Accelerates to 3.7% in September as Gasoline Prices Surge

US consumer prices accelerated in September, with surging gasoline costs pushing annual inflation to 3.7%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Wednesday.

The Consumer Price Index rose 0.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis from August, after a 0.4% increase the previous month. Over the 12 months to September, the all-items index climbed 3.7%, up from 3.4% in August.

Gasoline prices rose 9.1% in September and accounted for more than half of the monthly increase, BLS said. The energy index gained 5.2% over the month and is up 20.4% from a year earlier, with gasoline up 34.2% year on year.

US Inflation

Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.3% on the month, the same pace as August, and 2.6% over the past year, compared with 2.4% in the 12 months to August. Shelter costs increased 0.4% in the month, while airline fares rose 1.2% and are up 22.4% from a year ago. Food prices were unchanged in September and are up 2.5% year on year.

The data comes as the Federal Reserve keeps its focus on inflation. A day earlier, New York Fed President John Williams told Bloomberg he still sees one more interest-rate hike as appropriate this year, according to a market report from Investrade, while a Reuters report in September said the Fed had lifted its policy rate to a range of 3.75%-4.00%.

Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics; Investrade; Reuters via Kitco.

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