Consumer prices rise 0.2% in September as vehicles spike
Matt Ott | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 years, 3 months AGO
SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — U.S. consumer prices rose slightly in September, led again by sharp increases in the index for used vehicles.
The Labor Department reported Tuesday that the consumer price index rose 0.2% last month, after gaining 0.4% in August.
Prices for used cars and trucks rose 6.7% in September after a 5.4% gain in August and are now up 10.3% in the past 12 months.
Overall inflation for the last 12 months is up 1.4% while core inflation, which excludes energy and food, is up 1.7%.
Inflation remains below the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%, and Fed officials in the summer changed their operating policy to say that the Fed was prepared to allow for inflation above that level for a time, in order to make up for the many years its been below that target.
Because of that change, many economists believe the Fed will leave its benchmark interest rate at a record low near zero for the foreseeable future as it tries to lift the country out of a recession which has cost millions of jobs.
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