The consumer price index may not have shown another month of cooling inflation in October, but economists believe enough progress has been made for Federal Reserve officials to cut interest rates again in December.
Headline inflation was 2.6% last month, an acceleration from the 2.4% year-over-year rate logged in September. But last month’s reading came right in line with expectations and was still near the lowest since February 2021.
Core inflation, which excludes the more volatile prices of food and energy, was also in line with consensus expectations, measuring 3.3% year over year. On a monthly basis, core CPI held steady at a 0.3% pace.