Inflation stayed painfully high in Sept

WASHINGTON, Oct 30, (AP): A measure of inflation that is closely monitored by the Federal Reserve remained painfully high last month, the latest sign that prices for most goods and services in the United States are still rising steadily.

Friday’s report from the Commerce Department showed that prices rose 6.2% in September from 12 months earlier, the same year-over-year rate as in August.

Excluding volatile food and energy costs, so-called core prices rose 5.1% last month from a year earlier. That’s faster than the 4.9% annual increase in August, though below a four-decade high of 5.4% reached in February.

The latest price figures come just as Americans have begun voting in midterm elections in which Democrats’ control of Congress is at stake and inflation has shot to the top of voters’ concerns. Republicans have heaped blame on President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats for the skyrocketing prices that have buffeted households across the country.

The persistence of high inflation, near the worst in four decades, has intensified pressure on the Fed to keep aggressively raising its key short-term interest rate to try to wrestle rising prices under control. Last month, the Fed raised its key rate by a substantial three-quarters of a point for a third straight time, and next week it’s expected to do so for a fourth time.

Higher pay is helping maintain spending for many workers. Wages and benefits rose 5% in the July-September quarter from a year ago. That was a healthy gain, just below a two-decade high of 5.1% reached in the April-June quarter.

Still, there are signs that pay growth is cooling a bit. On a quarterly basis, it rose 1.2% from the April-June quarter to the July-September period. Yet that marked a second straight quarterly slowdown after compensation growth had reached a 20-year high of 1.4% in the first three months of 2022.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell has previously mentioned the wage figures released Friday, known as the employment cost index, as among the most important measures of worker pay. Since the pandemic recession ended, the index has soared, with companies offering more generous pay and benefits to attract and keep workers.