CPI Rises 0.4% in Sept.; Core Rate Up 0.2%

The consumer price index, one of the most closely watched indicators of inflation, rose slightly in September, the Labor Department said Friday.

The general CPI rose by 0.4% in September, its largest jump in four months, reflecting a spike in gasoline prices.

The “core” CPI, which excludes volatile products, like energy and food, rose only 0.2% in the month, matching the increases in August and July, indicating that economic conditions were holding inflation in check.

Inflation can not only push up overall operating costs for trucking companies, but if overall U.S. inflation rates are rising too fast, it will inhibit the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates more aggressively to bolster the ailing economy.

That, in turn, would delay a return to strong growth in freight shipments that trucking companies need after months of weak freight demand.

The Federal Reserve has cut rates nine times already this year, and twice since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to try boosting the economy.

Analysts had expected a 0.3% rise in CPI and a 0.2% rise in the “core” CPI, Bloomberg said.

For the year so far, the index is rising at an annual rate of 2.8%, down 1.1% from the same nine-month period last year.

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