Millions of workers received a 2.8% pay cut in October when accounting for stubbornly and painfully high inflation, which surged more than expected last month.
The government said Thursday that the Consumer Price Index, a broad measure of the prices of everyday goods, including gasoline, groceries and rents, rose by 0.4% in October from the previous month. Prices climbed by 7.7% on an annual basis.
Those figures were both lower than the 8% headline figure and the 0.5% monthly increase forecast by Refinitiv economists, a potentially reassuring sign for the Federal Reserve as it tries to tame runaway inflation with a series of aggressive interest rate hikes. It marked the slowest annual inflation rate since January. in the economy are starting to slow, core prices — which strip out the more volatile measurements of food and energy — climbed by 0.
Other price gains proved persistent and stubbornly high in October: The cost of groceries climbed by 0.5%, putting the 12-month increase at 12.4%. Consumers paid more for items like cereal, bread, fresh fish and seafood, eggs and fresh vegetables, including tomatoes and lettuce. Shelter costs, which account for about 40% of the core inflation increase, rose by 0.7% for the month and are up by 6.9% over the past year, the fastest annual increase since 1982. Rent costs jumped by 0.8% over the month and by 7.5% on an annual basis. Rising rents are a concerning development because higher housing costs most directly and acutely affect household budgets.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
October CPI expected to show inflation still ran hot even as some goods prices cooledConsumer inflation may have come down slightly in October as goods prices declined, but prices for services and rents continued to climb.
Read more »
U.S. inflation likely to post another sharp increase in October, CPI to showThe rate of inflation probably rose 0.6% last month after a 0.4% increase in September, economists polled by The Wall Street Journal forecast. Here’s what to watch in the consumer price index on Thursday morning.
Read more »
Little sign of relief expected in October US inflation dataThe nation’s punishing inflation rate likely kept simmering in October, giving the Federal Reserve little cause to ease up in its drive to slow price increases by steadily raising interest rates
Read more »
India inflation likely slowed in October, still well above RBI target band: Reuters pollIndian consumer price inflation slowed in October to 6.73% on weaker food price rises and a strong base one year ago but remained stubbornly well above the 6% upper limit of the Reserve Bank of India's tolerance band, a Reuters poll predicted.
Read more »
Little sign of relief expected in October US inflation dataThe nation’s punishing inflation rate likely kept simmering in October, giving the Federal Reserve little cause to ease up in its drive to slow price increases by steadily raising interest rates.
Read more »
Inflation numbers from October expected to remain highThe Labor Department is expected to report today that consumer prices jumped 8% from 12 months earlier and by a sharp 0.6% from September to October.
Read more »