US Inflation Slows More Than Forecast, Gives Fed Downshift Room
- CPI increased 7.7% in October from year ago, core up 6.3%
- Core prices eased as used cars, medical care and apparel fell
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US inflation cooled in October by more than forecast, offering hope that the fastest price increases in decades are ebbing and giving Federal Reserve officials room to slow down their steep interest-rate hikes.
The consumer price index was up 7.7% from a year earlier, the smallest annual advance since the start of the year and down from 8.2% in September, according to a Labor Department report Thursday. Core prices, which exclude food and energy and are regarded as a better underlying indicator of inflation, advanced 6.3%, pulling back from a 40-year high.