USA: Consumer Prices Slow Down

Energy prices fall, food and housing prices rise

The issue of fighting inflation is dominating the US election campaign, and the latest statistics are helping Democratic Party candidate Kamala Harris win voter support. According to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) released Thursday, October 10 by the Washington Department of Labor, price growth continued to slow in September, falling to an annualized rate of 2.4%, down 0.1% from the 2.5% rate recorded in August.

This is the latest data to be released ahead of the US presidential election scheduled for November 5.

As the US press notes, “the situation demonstrates a persistent disconnect between economic data indicating the ‘good health’ of the national US economy and the negative feelings of voters, who have had to deal with marked price increases over the past three years.” The US inflation rate peaked at an annualized rate of 9.1% in June 2022, driven by the post-covid economic recovery and the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Core inflation, which excludes food and energy prices considered “more volatile,” reached 0.3% month-on-month in September, the same as in August, and 3.3% year-on-year, up slightly from the 3.2% recorded in the previous month.

After six months of stability, family food prices rose 0.4% month-on-month in September. Instead, energy prices continued their rapid decline, falling an average of 1.9% per month in September, while gasoline and diesel prices recorded a monthly decline of 4.1%.

Finally, as for the housing market, even in this important category, which has grown strongly over the past three years, prices are slowing, with growth of only 0.2% per month. In this context, the Department of Labor emphasized in its statement that “housing and food accounted for 75% of the price increases recorded in September 2024.”