Inflation up again in September, but slightly less than economists expected

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We’ve got news for finance executives out there who find themselves missing the typically steady release of federal economic data. Amid the ongoing government shutdown, the Bureau of Labor Statistics came back for one day only with a fresh new Consumer Price Index report. Yay?

And the BLS reported that (drumroll, please) consumer prices ticked up 0.3% in September, and increased at an annual rate of 3%.

September’s annual inflation rate was slightly higher than August’s 2.9% uptick, which CFO Brew noted was the highest annual pace of 2025 at the time. However, things could have been worse. Economists Dow Jones polled said they expected inflation to increase 0.4% month over month and 3.1% annually, according to CNBC.

The stock market responded positively to the news. Stocks increased shortly after trading started on Friday morning, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Gasoline was the main culprit for September’s boost in prices, according to the BLS. Gas prices rose 4.1% from August, while energy prices overall increased 1.5%. Food prices, meanwhile, rose 0.2% in September. The cost for all items other than food and energy increased 0.2%, which is slightly lower than the 0.3% monthly increases that BLS reported for July and August.

The Journal noted that economists are paying close attention to “tariff-sensitive categories” like apparel, furniture, and sporting goods, which rose 0.7%, 0.9%, and 1%, respectively, from the prior month, to see how trade wars are impacting prices. As CFO Brew previously reported, finance executives indicated in a recent survey that “on average, price growth would be about 30 percent lower in 2025 and roughly 25 percent lower in 2026 without the addition of tariffs.”

The CPI report is the only bit of economic data the feds have released this month, “due to the shutdown,” CNN noted. Experts told CFO Brew earlier this month that a prolonged absence of economic data could have consequences for policymakers and business leaders, who rely on the data to make informed decisions. In the meantime, decision-makers can continue to rely on the eeny-meeny-miny-moe method.