Consumer prices rose by more than expected in September as food and energy costs surged, new government data show.

According to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data, the annual inflation rate climbed to a 13-year high of 5.4 percent in September, coming in higher than the median estimate of 5.3 percent.

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On a month-over-month basis, the consumer price index (CPI) rose by 0.4 percent, slightly higher than the market forecast of 0.3 percent.

The core inflation rate, which eliminates the volatile food and energy sectors, surged by 4 percent, matching economists’ expectations. This was unchanged from August.

Energy prices soared by 24.8 percent over the past 12 months, with all the major energy component indexes spiking on an annualized basis…

Food has been one of the other primary drivers of rising prices, soaring to its highest level since December 2011..

The monthly U.S. government snapshot of the cost of living found that shelter costs rose by 3.2 percent in the 12 months ending in September. The Economics Research team at Goldman Sachs stated in a research note that the report identified “the fastest pace of inflation for rent and owners’ equivalent rent since the 2006 housing bubble.”..

New vehicles and used automobiles and trucks soared by 8.7 percent and 24.4 percent year-over-year, respectively…

Apparel fell by 1.1 percent in September, but prices have risen consistently over the past year, showing a year-over-year increase of 3.4 percent.

Financial markets reacted to the news, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling about by 0.5 percent…

The Federal Reserve and the White House have stated that inflation is transitory, despite federal officials conceding that current pressures could persist into 2022.

“It’s also frustrating to see the bottlenecks and supply chain problems…at the margins apparently getting a little bit worse,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell told the Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing…

Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic disagreed, calling transitory a “dirty word.”…[T]he senior central bank official argued that inflation should no longer be considered transitory…

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard thinks inflation could run as high as 2.8 percent in 2022. This is higher than the Fed’s broader outlook of 2.3 percent…

The U.S. central bank has signaled that it plans to trim its $120-billion-per-month quantitative easing program as early as November. But what about interest rates?

According to the CME FedWatch Tool, markets don’t anticipate any movement on the Federal Funds Rate until at least May or June 2022.

Because of the slower reversal of inflation, IHS Markit altered its forecast for Fed monetary policy actions. The information provider believes that the Fed will raise rates in March 2023 and end asset purchases in June 2022…

U.S. consumers aren’t optimistic that relief from elevated price pressures is on the way. The Fed Bank of New York’s monthly Survey of Consumer Expectations revealed that U.S. household expectations for inflation one year ahead increased to 5.3 percent in September, up from 5.2 percent in August….

Are you experiencing the effects of inflation? Share a comment, and add a prayer for inflation rates to decrease.

(Excerpt from The Epoch Times. Article by Andrew Moran. Photo Credit: Krzysztof Hepner/Unsplash).