October 18, 2007 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Consumer prices in September 2007

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.3 percent in September, following a 0.1-percent decline in August.

[Chart data—TXT]

The index for energy, which declined in each of the preceding three months, rose 0.3 percent in September. The index for petroleum-based energy increased 0.4 percent and the index for energy services rose 0.1 percent.

The food index rose 0.5 percent in September. The index for food at home also rose 0.5 percent, reflecting large increases in the indexes for fruits and vegetables and for dairy products. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.2 percent in September, the same as in each of the preceding three months.

Consumer prices increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 1.0 percent in the third quarter of 2007, following increases in the first and second quarters at annual rates of 4.7 and 5.2 percent, respectively. This brings the year-to-date annual rate to 3.6 percent and compares with an increase of 2.5 percent for all of 2006.

For the 12 months ended in September 2007, the CPI-U rose 2.8 percent, as shown in the chart.

These data are from the BLS Consumer Price Index program. To learn more, see "Consumer Price Index: September 2007" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 07-1581.