WASHINGTON -- The Consumer Price Index rose 0.5%, slightly below expectations for a 0.6% gain, while core CPI rose only 0.1% compared with a 0.2% expected gain, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Friday.
BLS said that it could not quantify the exact impact of the hurricanes on the CPI data, but said there was a small impact on data collection in Florida due to Hurricane Irma.
Within core CPI, owners equivalent rents rose 0.2%, while the lodging away from home category rose 1.5%. Prices of new vehicles were down 0.4% while medical care prices fell 0.1%.
Energy prices surged 6.1% in the month, with a 13.1% rise in gasoline prices and an 8.2% jump in fuel oil prices. Excluding only energy prices, the September CPI would have been up 0.1%. Energy prices are likely to rise further in the coming months due to supply shortages from the hurricane-impacted regions. Higher gasoline pump prices have already been seen in October.
Food prices were up 0.1% in September, with food at home were flat and food away from home rose 0.3%. The impact of the hurricanes on Florida could be seen in rising fruit prices in the future, but that category fell 0.2% in October. There were also declines for the meat and dairy categories.
The year/year rate for overall CPI now stands at 2.2%, up from the 1.9% rate in August. For core CPI, the year/year rate held steady at 1.7%.
Overall, the CPI data points to contained core consumer inflation, with the year/year rate remaining well below the 2% threshold, allowing the FOMC to maintain a slow pace of policy tightening.
The 3Q/3Q average for the CPI-W, the proxy for the cost of living increase for Social Security recipients, rose 2.0%.
