The Labor Department reported the consumer price index increased (+0.2%) in October, matching the previous three months. Over the past 12 months, the all items index has climbed (+2.6%), which is 0.2 percentage point more than reported in September. The shelter index (+0.4%) accounted for more than 50% of the monthly increase in the all items index, while the food index increased (+0.2%). The energy index was unchanged after two consecutive monthly decreases. Core CPI inflation, which excludes food and energy, increased (+0.3%) in October, matching the previous two months. The annual rate of core CPI inflation increased (+3.3%), matching the previous month. Over 65% of the annual core CPI inflation is due to a (+4.9%) increase in the shelter index. Indexes with significant increases over the last year include motor vehicle insurance (+14.0%), energy (+4.9%), medical care (+3.3%), education (+3.8%), personal care (+2.5%), and food (+2.1%).

The Labor Department reported that that the producer price index for final demand, which measures the prices that producers pay for goods and services, advanced a seasonally adjusted (+0.2%) in October after an upwardly revised (+0.1%) in September and a (+0.2%) reading in August. Year over year, the headline PPI increased (+2.4%) from the upwardly revised (+1.9%) reading the previous month. A (+0.3%) rise in final demand services was the primary factor in the monthly increase. Prices for final demand services minus trade, transportation, and warehousing increased (+0.3%), accounting for more than 75% of the services advance. Prices for final demand goods increased (+0.1%) after declines of (-0.2%) and (-0.1%) in the preceding months. A primary contributor to the increase was an (+8.4%) increase in the index for carbon steel scrap. Excluding food, energy, and trade services, the core PPI increased (+0.3%); this follows (+0.1%) the previous month. Core PPI inflation moved up (+3.5%) year over year from the upwardly revised (+3.3%) reading the previous month.

The Labor Department reported initial jobless claims decreased 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 217,000 for the week ending November 9th. Claims are at their lowest level since May. The four-week moving average was 221,000, which was 4,000 less than the unrevised average from the prior week and also the lowest since May. Thirty-four states and U.S. territories reported increases in unemployment claims, while 19 recorded decreases. For the week ending November 2nd, the insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 1.1%. There were 1.674M jobless claims overall, which was only 969 more than the week before. The number of persons receiving unemployment benefits through state or federal programs for the week ending October 26th was 1.673M, an increase of 30,622 from the week before. For the same week in 2023, 1.633M weekly claims were filed.