US consumer inflation continued to heat up last month, but by less than expected, according to official data published Friday, nine days late because of the ongoing government shutdown.

However, the acceleration is unlikely to dim expectations of another rate cut from the Federal Reserve next week as it looks to support the flagging labor market.

The consumer price index (CPI) picked up to 3.0 percent in September, accelerating from 2.9 percent on a year-on-year basis a month earlier, the Labor Department said in a statement.

Prices rose 0.3 percent from a month earlier.

Both the annual and monthly inflation data came in slightly below the median forecast of economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

A significant reason for the monthly increase came from

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