The biggest increases came from the surging price of petrol, according to the report.
Published On 24 Oct 2025
United States consumer prices have increased less than expected in September as inflationary pressures continue to weigh on the domestic economy.
The consumer price index (CPI) report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday shows that prices rose by 0.3 percent in September from the previous month, a slowdown from the 0.4 percent increase in August.
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Compared with this time last year, the CPI increased by 3 percent. Last month’s report showed a 2.9 percent increase.
The gains were led by the price of petrol, which rose by 4.1 percent on a monthly basis. Overall, the index for energy rose by 1.5 percent over the same period. Food prices rose by 0.2 percent in September after a 0.5 percent increase in August on a monthly basis.
Prices for goods and services outside of food and energy, including shelter, airline fares, household items, and apparel, rose by 0.2 percent on a month basis in September after an increase of 0.3 percent in August.
The data release comes before a Federal Reserve meeting next week, where the central bank is expected to lower its benchmark interest rate by another 25 basis points to 3.75 percent to 4 percent.
“Today’s release of new consumer price index data shows an economy where prices continue to rise faster than the Federal Reserve’s preferred pace,” Heather Boushey, senior research fellow at the Reimagining the Economy Project at the Harvard Kennedy School, said in comments provided to Al Jazeera.
The central bank, however, is gauging interest rates with limited data because the government shutdown largely caused an economic data blackout, with more than half of US economic data unavailable.
The CPI report was an exception. It is used in order to help the US Social Security Administration calculate its cost-of-living adjustment, which was initially due on October 15. After the CPI data was released on Friday, the Social Security Administration announced that the beneficiaries will see a 2.8 percent increase in monthly payments in 2026.
Much of the data released was collected before the government shutdown. However, that also means that data for November reports is not being collected, creating challenges for economists in the months to come as the Bureau of Labor Statistics already faces budget and staffing constraints.
“The lack of a coherent economic agenda from the Trump administration threatens to push the economy into reverse,” Boushey said.
The White House said the federal government will not release inflation data next month because of the shutdown.
“Surveyors cannot deploy to the field – depriving us of critical data,” the White House said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
US markets are trending upwards. The Nasdaq is up by slightly more than 1 percent, the S&P 500 is up by 0.7 percent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up by almost 0.9 percent as of 11am in New York (15:00 GMT).
