The government is belatedly releasing inflation data on Friday. Here's what economists are expecting.

A delayed inflation report on Friday is expected to deliver sobering data about the direction of U.S. prices, with economists forecasting that the Consumer Price Index in September rose at its fastest pace in 16 months.

CPI last month is projected to have risen 3.1% on an annual basis, which would be the highest since the inflation gauge hit 3.3% in May of 2024, according to economists polled by FactSet. The CPI measures price changes in a basket of goods and services typically bought by consumers.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is scheduled to release the September CPI report on Friday at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, or nine days later than it had originally been scheduled to issue the report before the U.S. government shutdown .

Most federal economic data releases have been suspended d