US inflation rises to 3.7% as gasoline jumps 9.1% in a month
Gasoline drove more than half of September’s rise in consumer prices. Without food and energy, inflation was 2.6%.
Known
- US consumer prices rose 0.6% in September and 3.7% over 12 months, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on 14 October 2026. - Gasoline rose 9.1% in the month, more than half of the increase. - "Core" inflation, without food and energy, was 0.3% in the month and 2.6% over the year.
Not known yet
- Why gasoline jumped. The bureau reports prices, not causes. - What October shows. Those figures are due on 10 November.
Filling up the car cost Americans a lot more in September. The government's gasoline index rose 9.1% in a single month, and it pulled the whole inflation number up with it.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics said on 14 October that consumer prices rose 0.6% in September, after 0.4% in August. Over the past 12 months prices are up 3.7%, compared with 3.4% in the year to August.
Gasoline did most of the work
Gasoline alone accounted for more than half of September's increase, the bureau said. Over 12 months the gasoline index is up 34.2%, and energy as a whole is up 20.4%. Fuel oil is up 74.2% on the year.
Strip out food and energy, which jump around, and the picture is calmer. This "core" measure rose 0.3% in September, the same as in August, and is up 2.6% over the year, from 2.4%.
What got cheaper, what didn't
- Food was flat for the month. Groceries fell 0.1%; beef fell 1.0% and milk 2.0%.
- Rent and housing rose 0.4%, up from 0.3% in August.
- Airline fares rose 1.2% in the month and are up 22.4% on the year.
- Prescription drugs fell 1.2%.
- Used cars and trucks rose 0.7%.
What the number does not say
The bureau reports what prices did, not why. Its release does not explain the jump in gasoline, and it does not forecast what comes next.
The October figures are due on Tuesday, 10 November, at 8:30 a.m. in Washington.