US inflation picked up in September, offering more evidence of President Donald Trump’s tariff policies triggering a steady rise in certain prices in the absence of official government metrics.

Data from PriceStats, which is based on products sold by online retailers, show a spike in the prices for goods like household equipment and furniture rose firmly, pushing up annual inflation to the highest level in two years. America’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 2.7 per cent between September 2024 and September 2025, up from an annual increase of 2.0 per cent in the 12 months to August 2025.

This is the highest annual rate of inflation observed in the CPI since March 2024, when the rate was +2.9 per cent. Excluding energy and unprocessed food, the CPI grew by 2.8 per cent in the 12 months to September 2025. The divisions with the largest increases in the 12 months to September 2025 were ‘Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages’ (+4.7 per cent) and ‘Miscellaneous Goods & Services’ (+3.7 per cent).

The only division to record a decline when compared with September 2024 was ‘Furnishings, Household Equipment & Routine Household Maintenance’ (-0.6 per cent). The divisions with the largest declines in the month were Transport (-1.8%) and ‘Recreation & Culture’ (-1.6%). The divisions to record the largest increases in the month were Clothing & Footwear (+2.4%) and Miscellaneous Goods & Services (+0.5%).

Consumer prices in September, as measured by the CPI, decreased by 0.2 per cent in the month. During September of last year, prices fell by 0.9 per cent for the month.  The divisions which caused the largest upward percentage point (pp) contributions to the CPI in the year were ‘Restaurants & Hotels’ (+0.61 pp), ‘Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages’ (+0.49 pp), ‘Miscellaneous Goods & Services’ (+0.38 pp) and ‘Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels’ (+0.37 pp).