Lates News

The New York Times analysis pointed out that the last inflation report before the U.S. midterm elections showed that the U.S. CPI rose 3.7% year-over-year in September, higher than the expected 3.6%, and rose 0.6% month-over-month, in line with expectations. Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.3% month-over-month and 2.6% year-over-year. The ongoing war in Iran continued to push up fuel costs, with energy prices rising 5.2% in September and 20.4% so far this year. Gasoline prices alone rose 9.1% in September and have accumulated a 34.2% increase over the past year. Higher fuel costs pushed up airfare prices, with airline ticket prices rising 1.2% in September and 22.4% year-to-date. From a political perspective, this is bad news for President Trump, who just last night at a rally in Alaska was trying to argue that prices are improving under his leadership. The bond market reacted strongly, with U.S. Treasury yields rising, especially short-term Treasury yields, which are more sensitive to changes in interest rate expectations.