CONSUMER INFLATION UP 0.3% IN SEPTEMBER

From The New York Times:

Inflation stayed steady in September, indicating that the Federal Reserve has room to cut interest rates again, but most likely not this month.

Prices of consumer goods ticked up 0.3 percent in September, slightly faster than expectations and a reversal of a 0.1 percent decline in August. The core rate, a key gauge of inflation that excludes more volatile food and energy prices, held at 0.2 percent, where it has stood since June, the Labor Department said this morning.

Core inflation rose 2.1 percent since last September — the lowest year-over-year growth in 18 months — suggesting that pricing pressures have stayed in check. But the Fed, which keeps close tabs on inflation to determine its benchmark interest rates, prefers a rate between 1 percent and 2 percent. A bubbling-up of inflation, coupled with recent reports that point to a more resilient economy than analysts had expected, makes it more likely the Fed will keep rates unchanged when it issues its decision on Oct. 31.