U.S. consumer prices bounced higher than expected in October. What's more, figures released by the U.S. Labor Department revealed underlying inflation picked up, which appear to support the Federal Reserve’s signal for no further interest rate cuts in the near term.
The department said on Wednesday its consumer price index increased 0.4% last month as households paid more for energy products, healthcare, food and a range of other goods. That was the largest gain in the CPI since March and followed an unchanged reading in September.
In the 12 months through October, the CPI increased 1.8%, following up on a jump of 1.7% in September.
Economists had forecast the CPI advancing 0.3% in October and gaining 1.7% on a year-on-year basis.
Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the CPI rose 0.2% after edging up 0.1% in September. The so-called core CPI rose as health-care costs jumped by the most in more than three years. There were also increases in prices of used cars and trucks and recreation and rents.
In the 12 months through October, the core CPI increased 2.3% after rising 2.4% in September.
