The BLS released the September Consumer Price Index statistics this morning. The monthly rate of inflation ticked up a bit for the third month in a row. Interestingly, the CPI less food and energy really jumped, to an annual rate of 3.7 percent.
Meanwhile here in Cleveland, we released our median CPI stats, which provide an alternative to the more familiar ex-food-and-energy version of so-called core inflation. Contrary to the CPI less food and energy measure, median CPI inflation actually fell in September. Nonetheless, on a 12-month basis, both the CPI itself and the two alternative core measures are giving us a pretty similar picture.
Over the last 12 months, the median CPI rose 2.4%, the CPI 2.5%, and the CPI less food and energy 2.0%.