{"id":1344,"date":"2026-10-14T16:06:06","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T16:06:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kcfj570am.com\/?p=1344"},"modified":"2026-10-14T16:06:06","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T16:06:06","slug":"inflation-climbs-in-september-as-gas-prices-surge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kcfj570am.com\/?p=1344","title":{"rendered":"Inflation climbs in September as gas prices surge"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Shoppers unload their food carriages at a check out counter after shopping at a Costco Wholesale store on Sept. 25, 2026, in Colchester, Vermont. (Robert Nickelsberg\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Inflation climbed to a 4-month high in September as the Iran war continued to drive up gasoline prices, according to federal government data released on Wednesday. The reading came in slightly above economists’ expectations.<\/p>\n

Prices rose 3.7% in September compared to a year earlier, marking an uptick from an annual inflation rate of 3.4% in the prior month.<\/p>\n

Inflation stands well above a rate of 2.4% recorded in February prior to the outbreak of the Iran war.<\/p>\n

The fresh data arrived as affordability marks a top concern for voters ahead of early November’s midterm elections.<\/p>\n

Gas prices jumped more than 9% in September from August, accounting for more than half of the overall price increase last month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said. Shelter prices — which include home-owner payments and rental charges — also rose in September.<\/p>\n

Food prices proved stable, however. The price of food stayed flat in September from August, putting annual inflation for food at 2.5%. That figure, which includes prices for groceries and food eaten away from home, stands well below the annual pace of overall price increases.<\/p>\n

The Middle East conflict drove up fuel prices and catapulted inflation to a three-year high in May, but inflation eased slightly over the summer after a preliminary peace agreement established an on-again, off-again pause in fighting.<\/p>\n

The tentative accord between the U.S. and Iran expired in August, however, giving way to continued attacks on oil infrastructure and ships in the region.<\/p>\n

Oil exports from the Gulf have improved in recent weeks but heightened shipping costs and persistent risks have kept the national average gas price above $4.30 a gallon, AAA data shows. Prior to the Iran war, the average price of U.S. gas stood below $3 a gallon.<\/p>\n

Diesel prices, which feed into supply costs for groceries and just about every other product bought in stores, stood at $6.29 a gallon, according to AAA. That figure amounts to an increase of about 66% since the outbreak of the Iran War.<\/p>\n

Last month, consumer sentiment dropped close to the lowest level ever recorded in the 74-year history of the University of Michigan’s monthly survey.<\/p>\n

By some measures, the economy remains robust.<\/p>\n

Gross domestic product grew over three months ending in June, defying fear of a downturn triggered by the Iran war. Consumer spending, which accounts for about two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, rose 0.6% in August from July, the largest monthly increase since March 2025, government data on last month showed.<\/p>\n

In other areas, however, the economy has wobbled. The inflation report came days after monthly jobs data showed sluggish hiring in September.<\/p>\n

Employers added 29,000 jobs last month, a sharp slowdown from 162,000 jobs added in August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said earlier this month. The figure came in well below economists’ expectations.<\/p>\n

Prior to the latest jobs report, hiring had proven largely resilient this year, even as shoppers and businesses weathered higher costs.<\/p>\n

The combination of elevated inflation and a sturdy labor market prompted the Fed to raise interest rates a quarter of a percentage point last month, marking the central bank’s first rate increase since 2023.<\/p>\n

“The plain fact is that inflation is too high and has been for too long,” Fed Chair Kevin Warsh said at a press conference in Washington, D.C., last month.<\/p>\n

In theory, an increase to the benchmark interest rate should slash inflation by slowing the economy and eating away at demand, though the policy typically yields results after a lag time lasting several months.<\/p>\n

The next meeting of Fed policymakers takes place on Oct. 28, just days before the midterm elections. Investors peg the chance of another quarter-point rate increase at about 45%, according to CME Group\u2019s FedWatch Tool, a measure of market sentiment.<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shoppers unload their food carriages at a check out counter after shopping at a Costco Wholesale store on Sept. 25, 2026, in Colchester, Vermont. (Robert Nickelsberg\/Getty Images) Inflation climbed to a 4-month high in September as the Iran war continued to drive up gasoline prices, according to federal government data released on Wednesday. The reading […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kcfj570am.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kcfj570am.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kcfj570am.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kcfj570am.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kcfj570am.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kcfj570am.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1344\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kcfj570am.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kcfj570am.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kcfj570am.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}