October 2026 CPI report shows consumer prices rose 0.4%

The October 2026 CPI report showed US consumer prices rose 0.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis, slowing from a 0.6% increase in September, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on November 10. The result exceeded the 0.3% forecast in a Dow Jones survey of economists reported by CNBC; CNBC also reported that stocks fell and Treasury yields rose after the release.

The CPI is a broad measure of prices paid by urban consumers for goods and services. Its monthly change compares the cost of a weighted basket with the preceding month; readers can see how inflation is measured for more on how price indexes are constructed.

Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, increased 0.3% in October. That matched its pace in August and September, according to the BLS, and was above the 0.2% gain anticipated in the Dow Jones survey, CNBC reported.

What drove the October 2026 CPI report?

Shelter costs rose 0.3% in the month and accounted for more than 30% of the overall increase, the BLS said. Food prices increased 0.5%, including a 0.4% rise in food purchased for home consumption and a 0.5% gain in food away from home.

Energy prices rose 0.7%, after advancing 5.2% in September. The seasonally adjusted gasoline index increased 1.0%, while electricity prices rose 0.9%. Utility piped gas service was an offset, falling 0.8%. Before seasonal adjustment, gasoline prices declined 0.7% in October, the agency said.

Among other household categories, the BLS recorded a 0.2% rise in new-vehicle prices and a 1.2% decline in used cars and trucks. The communication index fell 0.1%.

Why is there no October year-over-year CPI rate?

The BLS did not publish 12-month percentage changes for most October 2026 CPI series because it did not collect survey data in October 2025 during a lapse in appropriations. Without indexes for the comparable month a year earlier, the agency said it cannot calculate annual changes for series affected by the missing data.

The report arrived as Federal Reserve officials considered their next interest-rate decision. At the Fed’s October meeting, policymakers voted 10-2 to maintain the benchmark rate in a 3.75% to 4% range, CNBC reported. Before the CPI release, Fed Governor Christopher Waller said that a hot inflation report could move him toward backing a half-point increase in December, with core CPI around 0.3% among the conditions he cited, according to CNBC.

CNBC reported that Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan, speaking after the data, said she saw a need for two further quarter-point increases. Those comments and the market reaction were responses to the release, not conclusions of the BLS report, which measured the October price changes.

This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.