U.S. Inflation Picked Up to 3%

“Consumer prices rose 3.0% in September from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Friday, hotter than August’s increase of 2.9%,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Economists and policymakers are paying close attention to the latest inflation report for clues on the state of the economy and the direction of interest rates. Hiring slowed to a crawl during the summer, prompting the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates in September.”

“The report is out more than a week late because a government shutdown has stopped work on economic data.”