President Donald Trump suffered a second inflation setback in as many days on Thursday after a closely watched key economic indicator recorded its largest monthly increase in more than four years. The Producer Price Index—what producers collect for making goods and services—rose 1.3 percent in September, accelerating from 0.5 percent in August and 0.2 percent in July, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said. It was the largest monthly increase since March 2022.
Producer prices were also 6.3 percent higher than a year earlier, the fastest annual increase since December 2022. The report followed Wednesday's Consumer Price Index, which showed prices paid by consumers increasing 0.6 percent during September and 3.7 percent from a year earlier. Taken together, experts said the reports show that inflationary pressure is reaching businesses and households.
That could create a difficult political message for Trump and congressional Republicans less than three weeks before the November 3 midterm elections. And businesses are facing cost pressures that could mean more price increases ahead.” The economy and cost of living are dominating voters' concerns ahead of the midterms. A Pew Research Center survey conducted September 28-October 4 found that 84 percent of registered voters considered the economy very important to their vote, making it the leading issue among supporters of both major parties.
An AP-NORC survey released on Thursday similarly found that 85 percent of voters viewed the economy as one of the election's most important issues, while 84 percent said the same about the cost of living. The poll also found that 36 percent approved of Trump's overall job performance and 64 percent disapproved. The latest Fox News poll found that six in 10 registered voters considered the cost of living the country's most important economic issue.
Seventy-four percent rated the economy negatively, 55 percent said inflation was "not at all" under control and only 22 percent approved of Trump's handling of inflation. When Trump's second term began in January 2025, annual consumer inflation stood at 3 percent. It reached 3.7 percent in September of this year.
However, the CPI and PPI measure different parts of the economy. The CPI tracks the average change in prices paid by urban consumers for a basket of goods and services, while the PPI measures changes in the prices domestic producers receive for their output, including goods and services sold before they reach consumers. Businesses do not automatically pass every cost increase on to customers.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
