US inflation hits 3.7%, highest September since 2023, as gasoline jumps 34%

What changed

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers reached 336.940 in September 2026 (1982-84=100), up from 324.800 a year earlier. That is a 3.7% annual increase, the highest September reading since September 2023, when the rate was also 3.7%. On a seasonally adjusted basis, prices rose 0.6% in September after a 0.4% rise in August, BLS said in its release of October 14.

The 2026 path has been uneven. Annual inflation was 2.4% in January and February, then climbed to 4.2% in May, the highest rate since April 2023. It eased to 3.4% in July and August before turning up again in September. Over the three months to September, the seasonally adjusted index rose at an annualized pace of about 4.6%.

What is driving it

Fuel is the main driver. BLS said the gasoline index rose 9.1% in September alone and accounted for more than half of the month's all items increase. Over 12 months, gasoline is up 34.2%, fuel oil 74.2% and the broad energy index 20.4%. The monthly energy swings explain the year's two outliers in the tracker: a 0.9% jump in overall prices in March, when energy rose 10.9%, and a 0.4% fall in June, when energy dropped 5.7%.

Outside energy, price growth is moderate. Core CPI rose 0.3% in September and 2.6% over the year. Shelter, the largest service component, rose 3.2%. Food at home rose 1.8% and food overall 2.5%. Airline fares, which depend on jet fuel, rose 22.4% over the year, while used cars and trucks fell 1.5%.

Who feels it

Households that drive long distances or heat with fuel oil face the steepest increases, because those items show the largest annual gains. Grocery bills are rising more slowly than overall prices. The CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, which tracks a narrower group of households, rose 3.9%, slightly faster than the 3.7% CPI-U rate.

The longer view matters for wages and budgets. The all items index is 30.3% above its February 2020 level, before the pandemic, so a basket that cost $100 then costs about $130 now. Annual inflation has stayed above 2% in every month with published data since March 2021. BLS did not publish an October 2025 index, so the tracker shows a gap for that month.

What is available

The ClarionBrief US inflation tracker shows the full monthly CPI-U series since 1999, both seasonally adjusted and not adjusted, with a chart and a CSV download. The figures match the BLS database for the latest months. The next CPI release, for October 2026, is scheduled for November 10, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time.