Consumer prices rose 3.7% in the year to September as gasoline jumped, BLS says

Prices paid by American consumers rose 0.6% in September on a seasonally adjusted basis and 3.7% over the 12 months to September, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its Consumer Price Index release on October 14. The annual rate was up from 3.4% in the 12 months to August.

Gasoline drove most of the monthly increase. The gasoline index rose 9.1% in September, which the bureau said accounted for over half of the rise in the all-items index. Before seasonal adjustment, gasoline prices rose 6.5% in the month. Over 12 months, gasoline was up 34.2%. The broader energy index rose 5.2% in September after a 2.1% increase in August, and was 20.4% higher than a year earlier.

Prices outside food and energy

Leaving out food and energy, prices rose 0.3% in September, matching August's pace. Over 12 months this core measure rose 2.6%, a faster pace than the 2.4% recorded for the year to August.

Shelter, which made up 35.6% of the index's weight in December 2025, rose 0.4% in September after 0.3% in August, and was 3.2% higher than a year earlier. The used cars and trucks index rose 0.7% in the month, and airline fares rose 1.2%.

Food prices overall were unchanged in September. Grocery prices, measured by the food at home index, fell 0.1% in the month and were 1.8% higher than a year earlier. Prices for food away from home, such as restaurant meals, were up 3.5% over the year.

Pay fell behind prices

Wages did not keep pace. In its real earnings release the same day, the bureau said real average hourly earnings for all employees fell 0.5% from August to September, because average hourly earnings rose 0.1% while consumer prices rose 0.6%.

From September 2025 to September 2026, real average hourly earnings fell 0.7%. Real average weekly earnings fell by a smaller 0.1% over the same period, because the average workweek grew 0.6%, so people worked slightly more hours.

What it means at the pump

Weekly survey data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration show that fuel prices stayed high into late October. The national average price of regular gasoline was $4.269 a gallon on October 26, $1.234 more than a year earlier and 1.5 cents lower than a week earlier. On-highway diesel averaged $6.352 a gallon, up $2.634 from a year earlier and 7.6 cents higher than the week before. The agency's prices include all taxes.

Gasoline carried a weight of 2.895% in the index as of December 2025, according to the bureau's relative importance table. That share is small, but a 9.1% jump in a single month was still enough to supply more than half of September's overall increase. Households that drive more than average, or that rely on diesel, will feel the change more than the national figure suggests.

Why the number matters for households

The CPI and related indexes are used to adjust benefits and pay rates. The Social Security Administration used a related index, the CPI-W for urban wage earners and clerical workers, to set a 3.6% benefit increase for 2027. Washington uses the same index to set its minimum wage each year, as our guide to state minimum wages explains.

The bureau's October figures are scheduled for release on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time.