US consumer price inflation accelerated in September, rising 0.2pc, the Labor Department said this afternoon.
The seasonally adjusted core consumer price index, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.3 per cent, the largest rise since April.
Economists were expecting both the CPI and the core CPI to rise 0.2 per cent, according to a survey of 37 economists by CBS MarketWatch.
Bonds extended their losses on the release of the data. The dollar was lower. The CPI rose 0.1 per cent in August, while the core CPI had increased 0.1 per cent for the previous three months.
About three-fourths of the gain in the core CPI in September was due to the 2.9 per cent increase in prices for lodging away from home, the Labor Department said. Hotel and motel prices have gyrated wildly in the past few months and are up 7.3 per cent in the past year.
Consumer prices are up 2.5 per cent over the past 12 months. The core CPI has risen 2 per cent year-over-year, breaking that key barrier for the first time in nearly two years.