US September Core CPI Up 0.1%, Smallest Increase Since February

US Core CPI recorded its smallest MoM increase since February as it crept up by 0.1% in September, the Labor Department reported yesterday.

Core inflation, which strips out food and energy, had been expected to rise by 0.2% MoM. As it stands, third quarter Core CPI registered a 2.7% increase which leaves the un-adjusted 12 month rate at 2.5%.

Core CPI suffered from a 0.6% decline in transportation prices, and smaller declines of 0.1% in housing and apparel. Medical care, recreation and other goods and services registered 0.3, 0.2 and 0.2% gains respectively. The education and communication component was also up, by 0.1%.

Elsewhere the headline Consumer Price Index came in flat at 0.0% for the month of September. This is an improvement on August’s -0.1%. All items CPI still stands at an un-adjusted 4.9% YoY.

The energy index continued to decline in the month of September with a MoM decrease of 1.9%, better than August’s -3.1%. However the index is still up 23.1% on the year.

The cost of food continues to increase, up 0.6% MoM, 6.2% YoY. The food index was helped by food at home (up 0.6%); cereals and bakery products (up 1.1%) and meats, poultry, fish and eggs (up 1.0%).