This is a breaking news story about October consumer price index data. Please check back for updates.
Inflation accelerated in October as the pace of consumer price growth trended higher.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said on Wednesday that the consumer price index (CPI) – a broad measure of how much everyday goods like gasoline, groceries and rent cost – increased 0.4% on a monthly basis.
It did not release an annual figure due to last year’s government shutdown that prevented collection of October 2025 data.
Expectations vs. reality
The monthly figure was slightly higher than the estimates of economists polled by LSEG, who expected inflation to rise 0.3% from the prior month.
So-called core prices, which exclude volatile measurements of gasoline and groceries to better assess price growth trends, were up 0.3% in October.
That figure is slightly higher than the 0.2% estimate of economists polled by LSEG.
The cost of living breakdown
High inflation has created severe financial pressures in recent years for most U.S. households, which are forced to pay more for everyday necessities like food and rent. Price hikes are particularly difficult for lower-income Americans because they tend to spend more of their already-stretched paychecks on necessities and have less flexibility to save.
