Wholesale inflation remained cool last month in sign that price pressures slowing

abcnews.go.com:

Wholesale prices in the United States were unchanged last month in another sign that inflation is returning to something close to normal after years of pressuring America’s households in the wake of COVID-19

WASHINGTON — Wholesale prices in the United States were unchanged last month in another sign that inflation is returning to something close to normal after years of pressuring America's households in the wake of COVID-19.

The Labor Department reported Friday that its producer price index — which tracks inflation before it hits consumers — didn't move from August to September after rising 0.2% the month before. Measured from a year earlier, the index rose 1.8% in September, the smallest such rise since February and down from a 1.9% year-over-year increase in August.

Excluding food and energy prices, which tend to fluctuate from month to month, so-called core wholesale prices rose 0.2% from August and 2.8% from a year earlier, up from the previous month's 2.6% increase.

The wholesale prices of services rose modestly but were offset by a drop in the price of goods, including a 5.6% August-to-September decline in the wholesale price of gasoline.

The wholesale inflation data arrived one day after the government said consumer prices rose just 2.4% in September from 12 months earlier — the mildest year-over-year rise since February 2021. That was barely above the Federal Reserve's 2% target and far below inflation's four-decade high of 9.1% in mid-2022. Still, with the presidential election less than a month away, many Americans remain unhappy with consumer prices, which remain well above where they were before the inflationary surge began in 2021.

The steady easing of inflation might be diminishing former President Donald