Inflation picked up in September as soaring gasoline prices drove much of the increase, while shelter costs and underlying inflation also rose, according to figures released Wednesday by the Labor Department.
Prices paid by U.S. consumers rose 0.6% in September, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, matching expectations and following a 0.4% increase in August.
The CPI, a key measure of inflation, tracks changes in prices paid by American consumers for a broad range of goods and services, from groceries to gasoline.
Looking at food costs, prices were unchanged in September after rising 0.1% in each of the previous two months. Grocery prices edged down 0.1% following no change in August, while restaurant prices rose 0.2% after two consecutive monthly increases of 0.3%.
Over the past 12 months, overall food prices rose 2.5%, easing from 2.7% in August. Grocery prices increased 1.8%, down from 2.2%, while restaurant prices climbed 3.5%, slightly above August’s 3.4% annual gain.
Continuing a recent trend, rising energy costs helped push overall consumer inflation higher. Gasoline prices surged 9.1% in September after a 3.9% increase in August. Compared with a year earlier, pump prices were up 34.2%, following a 27.4% annual increase in August.
Gasoline prices accounted for "over half of the monthly all items increase," the CPI report noted, up from over one-third in August.
The broader energy index, which includes gasoline, electricity and fuel oil, climbed 5.2% in September following a 2.1% gain in August. Over the past 12 months, energy prices jumped 20.4%, accelerating from a 16.3% annual increase in August.
Excluding the volatile food and energy components, core consumer prices rose 0.3% in September for the second consecutive month, exceeding most forecasts by one-tenth of a percentage point.
Shelter costs climbed 0.4% in September following a 0.3% gain in August. Over the past 12 months, shelter prices increased 3.2%, up from 3.0% in August.
The shelter component of the CPI includes apartment rents, owners’ equivalent rent — an estimate of what homeowners would pay to rent their homes — lodging away from home such as hotels and motels, housing at schools, and tenants’ and household insurance.
In other key categories:
- Clothing prices rose 0.3% in September after holding steady in August and were 3.4% higher than a year earlier.
- New vehicle prices edged up 0.2% in September following a 0.3% increase in August, bringing their annual gain to 0.6%.
- Used car and truck prices climbed 0.7% in September after rising 0.4% in August but remained 1.5% below year-earlier levels.
- Airline fares increased 1.2% in September, slowing from a 2.7% jump in August, while prices were 22.4% higher than a year ago.
The headline annual inflation rate climbed to 3.7% in September from 3.4% in August, exceeding expectations by one-tenth of a percentage point.
Core inflation rose to 2.6% over the 12 months through September, topping forecasts by one-tenth of a percentage point. August’s 2.4% reading had been the lowest core inflation rate since March 2021.
The core CPI, also known as the "all items less food and energy" index, is among the inflation measures monitored by Federal Reserve policymakers to assess price trends and guide monetary policy decisions.
The following table of key inflation figures covers the seven months through September, as published by the U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.bls.gov/cpi) on October 14, 2026.
To compile the CPI, the BLS collects prices each month in 75 urban areas from about 6,000 housing units and approximately 23,000 retail establishments.
March 2026 to September 2026 Consumer Prices – Gains & Losses in Percent
(Seasonally Adjusted from Prior Month and Unadjusted 12-Month)
| March 2026 | April 2026 | May 2026 | June 2026 | July 2026 | Aug 2026 | Sep 2026 | 12-Month | |
| All items | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.5 | -0.4 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 3.7 |
| Food | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 2.5 |
| Food at home | -0.2 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.2 | -0.1 | 0.0 | -0.1 | 1.8 |
| Food away from home | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 3.5 |
| Energy | 10.9 | 3.8 | 3.9 | -5.7 | -1.5 | 2.1 | 5.2 | 20.4 |
| Energy commodities | 21.3 | 5.6 | 6.7 | -9.5 | -2.9 | 4.2 | 9.3 | 35.3 |
| Gasoline (all types) | 21.2 | 5.4 | 7.0 | -9.7 | -2.9 | 3.9 | 9.1 | 34.2 |
| Fuel oil | 30.7 | 5.8 | 3.8 | -9.2 | -1.7 | 10.1 | 15.3 | 74.2 |
| Energy services | 0.4 | 1.6 | 0.4 | -0.7 | 0.3 | -0.4 | 0.1 | 4.6 |
| Electricity | 0.8 | 2.1 | 0.6 | -1.0 | 0.1 | -0.2 | 0.2 | 4.4 |
| Utility (piped) gas service | -0.9 | -0.1 | -0.5 | 0.5 | 0.7 | -1.1 | -0.3 | 5.0 |
| All items less food and energy | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 2.6 |
| Commodities less food and energy | 0.1 | 0.0 | -0.1 | -0.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.7 |
| New vehicles | 0.1 | -0.2 | -0.3 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.6 |
| Used cars and trucks | -0.4 | 0.0 | 0.1 | -0.2 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.7 | -1.5 |
| Apparel | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.3 | -0.6 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 3.4 |
| Medical care commodities | -1.0 | -0.4 | -0.7 | -0.2 | -0.6 | -0.2 | -0.7 | -3.3 |
| Services less energy | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 3.1 |
| Shelter | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 3.2 |
| Transportation services | 0.6 | 0.3 | -0.6 | -0.3 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 2.7 |
| Medical care services | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | -0.1 | 0.6 | -0.2 | 0.3 | 2.5 |
The BLS releases inflation data around the middle of the month, covering consumer prices surveyed up to the previous month. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for October and the latest annual period will be made public on November 10, 2026.
The CPI data are also used to calculate inflation rates and power this site’s U.S. Inflation Calculator, which displays the cumulative inflation and the change in the buying power of the U.S. dollar over time.
