US consumer inflation eased in October, driven lower by cheaper gas, cars and airfares

abcnews.go.com:

Inflation in the United States slowed last month in a sign that the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes are continuing to cool the consumer price spikes that have bedeviled consumers for the past two years

WASHINGTON — Inflation in the United States slowed last month in a sign that the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes are continuing to cool the consumer price spikes that have bedeviled consumers for the past two years.

Tuesday’s report from the Labor Department showed that prices either fell or rose only slowly across a broad range of goods and services, including gas, new and used cars, hotel rooms and housing. Overall inflation was unchanged from September to October, down from the 0.4% jump the previous month. Compared with 12 months ago, consumer prices rose 3.2% in October, down from the 3.7% rise in September and the smallest year-over-year increase since June.

Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core prices also weakened unexpectedly. They rose just 0.2% from September to October, slightly below the pace of the previous two months. Economists closely track core prices, which are thought to provide a good sign of inflation’s future path. Measured year over year, core prices rose 4% in October, down from 4.1% in September.

October's milder-than-expected price figures could make it less likely that the Fed will impose another interest rate hike. Fed officials, led by Chair Jerome Powell, are considering whether their benchmark rate is high enough to quell inflation or if they need to impose another rate hike in coming months.

Powell had said last week that Fed officials were “not confident” that rates had gotten sufficiently high to tame inflation. The Fed has raised its benchmark interest