Inflation did not relent over the summer, and the cost of living in September is unlikely to show any letup in how much consumers are paying for goods and services. The following is what to watch in Thursday’s consumer price index. The report will also determine the final cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security recipients in 2023.
See: COLA is coming, and here’s how much Social Security benefits are likely to rise next yearThe forecast The cost of living is expected to climb a relatively mild 0.3% in September, partly because cheaper gasoline kept the overall price increase down. Still, the rise in the CPI over the past year is expected to be little changed at around 8.2%. That’s one of the highest annual inflation rates since 1982 and more than quadruple the annual increase in inflation in the decade before the pandemic. Core inflation Since food and gas prices can be quite jumpy, the Federal Reserve views the so-called core rate of inflation as a better indicator of future price trends. The core CPI, which omits food and energy, is forecast to rise a more pronounced 0.5% in September. Such an increase would push the yearly rate of core inflation up to 6.5% from 6.3%, economists estimate, to match the sharpest core increase since 1982. That would not be good news for investors or the economy. The core rate includes staples such as rent and housing, medical care, and car prices. When the core rate i …