US Consumer Prices Rise 0.4% In October Without Annual Headline Comparison

US consumer prices rose 0.4% in October after a 0.6% increase in September, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on 10th November. Inflation excluding food and energy held at 0.3% for a third consecutive month. These headline and core monthly figures are adjusted for regular seasonal patterns.

The release could not provide the usual annual headline comparison. BLS did not collect survey data in October 2025 during a lapse in government funding, leaving most categories without the earlier index needed to calculate a twelve-month change.

Annual changes in the headline and core consumer price indexes, or CPI, are unavailable. BLS still published monthly readings for both. Some categories still have unadjusted annual figures: gasoline was up 37.4% from a year earlier, while used cars and trucks were down 3.3%. Those categories do not supply an annual rate for the whole basket.

Food And Shelter Keep Rising

Shelter costs increased 0.3% during October and accounted for more than 30% of the overall monthly rise, BLS said. Food rose 0.5%, with groceries up 0.4% and food away from home up 0.5%, the latter an unadjusted figure.

Energy prices increased 0.7%, much less than September's 5.2% rise. Gasoline was up 1% after seasonal adjustment, compared with 9.1% in September. Used cars and trucks fell 1.2% during October, helping offset increases elsewhere.

The figures follow the employment release covered in our October US jobs report.

Waller Had Set Out A Larger-Hike Scenario

Before the CPI release, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said in a 10th November speech that even an improvement in monthly inflation would leave him leaning towards a quarter percentage point rate increase in December.

He also set out a stronger response: if October's core CPI remained around 0.3% or higher, he believed a half percentage point increase should be considered. The published reading was 0.3%. His remarks were a conditional position stated before the data, rather than a subsequent announcement of his vote or the committee's decision.

In separate remarks that day, Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman said progress in lowering inflation had disappointed. She had supported holding the policy rate range at 3.75% to 4% in October, allowing more time to assess incoming data and financial conditions.

Waller's speech identified the separate personal consumption expenditures price index as the measure used for the Fed's inflation objective. Our report on PCE inflation and household income explains the earlier release of that measure.

The Federal Reserve's next scheduled policy meeting is on 8th and 9th December. The BLS release lists November CPI for 10th December, after that meeting.