The CPI rose another 0.4% in September.

For the past several months, the United States Federal Reserve has been gradually raising interest rates in an effort to slow and, hopefully, reverse the trend of inflation plaguing the economy. Unfortunately, in spite of these efforts, inflation has persisted at some of the highest levels seen in the United States since the 1980s.

The core consumer price index, which excludes food and energy, increased 6.6% from a year ago. It's at the highest level since 1982. The overall CPI increased 0.4% last month, and was up 8.2% from a year earlier https://t.co/X5Y9Lodfsb pic.twitter.com/ZcQTF6UAdi

— Bloomberg (@business) October 13, 2022

In September, the consumer price index, an aggregate statistic of the costs of things like food and gasoline, rose by 0.4%. Not only is this higher than the 0.3% inflation that Dow analysts were expecting, but it puts the economy on track for a headline inflation rate of 8.2% over the course of a year. While that’s technically lower than the headline inflation rates seen back in June, it’s still worryingly high.

“The Federal Reserve has made it very clear they’re committed to price stability, they’re committed to reducing the inflationary pressures,” said Michelle Meyer, chief U.S. economist at the Mastercard Economics Institute. “The more inflation comes in above expectations, the more they’re going to have to prove that commitment, which means higher interest rates and cooling in the underlying economy.”

U.S. stocks opened sharply lower Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling more than 500 points, after the consumer-price index showed that inflation in September was hotter than forecast: https://t.co/DS0WXJxrVN pic.twitter.com/uRI7BLnGEV

— MarketWatch (@MarketWatch) October 13, 2022

In response to this report, stock trading has become extremely cautious, with investors factoring further rate hikes into their upcoming investments. Due to this, market future took a sizable hit this morning.