Inflation fell for sixth month in a row to 2.4% in September in last report before election
By
Zach Halaschak
October 10, 2024 8:35 am
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Inflation fell a tenth of a percentage point to 2.4% for the year ending in September, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Thursday in an update to the consumer price index, the sixth consecutive monthly drop.
The decline is a slight bit of good news for Vice President Kamala Harris, who has been working to highlight falling inflation, but the decline isn’t as much as many hoped. This is the last consumer price index report before the Nov. 5 election.
Most economists expected that annual inflation would fall from 2.5% to 2.3%, so the reading came in a bit hotter than anticipated.
“The good news is that the trend remains broadly disinflationary, but the bad news is that services inflation is still a problem, Inflation is dying, but not dead,” said Olu Sonola, Fitch Ratings head of U.S. economic research. “Coming on the heels of the surprisingly strong September employment data, this report encourages the Fed to maintain a cautious stance with the pace of the easing cycle.”
Inflation is now the lowest it has been since February 2021, shortly after President Joe Biden was sworn in.
On a month-to-month basis, inflation rose 0.2%.
Inflation is the biggest concern facing voters, so the White House and Harris campaign are breathing a sigh of relief that there wasn’t an uptick, which would have been a setback, adding to the worries raised by signs of slowing in the labor market. Republicans have worked hard to tie Harris to the economy.
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/finance-and-economy/3183630/inflation-fell-for-sixth-month-in-a-row-to-2-4-in-september-in-last-report-before-election/
