CPI report shows inflation continued to climb in September, although at a cooler pace than forecast

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Updated on: October 24, 2025 / 8:05 PM EDT

/ CBS News

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The Consumer Price Index climbed at an annual rate of 3% in September, coming in below economists' forecasts as the impact of President Trump's tariffs remain muted.By the numbersEconomists polled by financial data firm FactSet had forecast CPI rose at a 3.1% annual clip last month. The CPI measures price changes in a basket of goods and services typically bought by consumers.While most federal economic data releases have been suspended during the government shutdown, the Department of Labor is making an exception for the September CPI data. That's because the inflation rate is needed to determine the Social Security Administration's annual cost-of-living adjustment for beneficiaries, which is also scheduled to be announced on Friday.The September CPI report could be the last inflation data economists see for a while. The Labor Department is unlikely to release inflation figures next month because of difficulty collecting data during the shutdown, the Trump administration said Friday in an email. What economists sayInflation is inching higher partly due to the Trump administration's tariffs, according to economists. U.S. businesses are eating some of the costs in the form of lower profits, which has blunted the impact of the import duties on consumers. Still, companies are also passing on as much as 55% of those import taxes to consumers in the form of higher prices, according to a Goldman Sachs analysis. Other research shows a lower rate of passthrough tariff costs to shoppers. "Tariffs have put upward pressure on prices, particularly in the goods-producing sector of the economy," Brandon Zureick, senior managing director and chief economist at investment firm Johnson Investment Counsel, told CBS News. "We're definitely a little higher than where we started the year, and above the Fed's target" of 2% annual inflation.