US inflation rises before midterm elections, fuelling rate hike fears

Economists divided on Fed rate hike as inflation creates uncertainty in run-up to US midterm elections in a tense market.United States consumer prices jumped in September in the final inflation report before the midterm elections, increasing chances of an interest rate hike later this month.Annual inflation accelerated to 3.7 percent, up from 3.4 percent in August. On a monthly basis, prices rose by 0.6 percent, according to the Consumer Price Index report released by the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Wednesday.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4US, China list goods recommended for tariff cuts following Trump-Xi summitlist 2 of 4Gold falls amid rising oil prices and higher US dollarlist 3 of 4Indian firm building $15bn Trump-announced steel mill has deep Russia tieslist 4 of 4Trump says Houthis trying to increase oil prices before US electionsend of listPetrol prices led the surge as tensions between the US and Iran, as well as Russia and Ukraine, weighed on global energy prices. Petrol prices rose 9.1 percent in September, accounting for more than half of the CPI monthly increase, according to the BLS. They were up 34.2 percent from the same time a year ago.“The directionless war in Iran continues to disrupt global supply chains, driving up the prices of food and fuel,” Kyle Moore, chief economist at The Century Foundation, an economic think tank, said in a statement provided to Al Jazeera.Petrol prices have continued to climb. The average price for a gallon of petrol is $4.33 ($1.14 per litre), compared with $4.31 a month ago, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), which tracks daily petrol prices. Diesel prices are higher, at $6.29 per gallon (1.66 per litre), compared with $6.23 a month ago.In a post on X, Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, said, “2026 has now seen more days with average gas prices over $4/gal than any year before: 158 days.”Shelter costs also jumped 0.4 percent from the previous month, following a 0.3 percent increase in August. Food costs were a bright spot in the report, remaining unchanged overall.