Inflation in the U.S. dropped last month to its lowest point since it first began surging more than three years ago, the Associated Press reports.
Consumer prices rose just 2.4% in September from a year earlier, down from 2.5% in August and the smallest annual rise since February 2021. Measured from month to month, prices increased 0.2% from August to September, the Labor Department reported today, the same as in the previous month.
But excluding volatile food and energy costs, “core” prices, a gauge of underlying inflation, remained elevated in September, driven higher by rising costs for medical care and car insurance. Core prices in September were up 3.3% from a year earlier and 0.3% from August. Economists closely watch core prices, which typically provide a better hint of future inflation.
Economists at Goldman Sachs project that core inflation will drop to 3% by December 2024, and few analysts expect inflation to surge again unless conflicts in the Middle East worsen dramatically.
