United States Inflation Rate

The annual inflation rate in the US accelerated to 2.6% in October 2024, up from 2.4% in September which was the lowest rate since February 2021, and in line with market expectations. It marks the first increase in inflation in seven months, as energy costs declined less (-4.9% vs -6.8%), mainly due to gasoline (-12.2% vs -15.3%) and fuel oil (-20.8% vs -22.4%) while natural gas prices rose 2%, the same as in September. Also, inflation for shelter steadied at 4.9%. On the other hand, inflation slowed for food (2.1% vs 2.3%) and transportation (8.2% vs 8.5%) and prices continued to fall for new vehicles (-1.3% vs -1.3%) and used cars and trucks (-3.4% vs -5.1%). On a monthly basis, CPI rose by 0.2%, consistent with the previous three months, also matching forecasts. The index for shelter rose 0.4%, accounting for over half of the monthly increase. Meanwhile, core inflation remained steady at 3.3% as expected, with monthly core inflation also holding at 0.3%, the same as in September.