Prices Rose 0.4% in October, Shelter Drove Over 30% of It, and There Is No Annual Inflation Rate This Time
Key Takeaways Consumer prices rose 0.4% in October after rising 0.6% in September, and core prices rose 0.3% for a third straight month, beating forecasts of 0.3% and 0.2% in a Reuters poll of economists. Shelter rose 0.3% and accounted for over thirty percent of the monthly increase, while rent of primary residence rose a cooler 0.2%. There is no official annual inflation rate for October: the Bureau of Labor Statistics never collected October 2025 prices during last year's lapse in appropriations, so it cannot publish 12-month changes. Core inflation landed exactly on the 0.3% line Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller set the night before for considering a 50 basis point hike at the December 8-9 meeting. Inflation cooled from September's pace and still came in hotter than expected. That combination is what makes the October Consumer Price Index, released November 10, 2026 by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), a difficult report for anyone waiting on cheaper bor...