Core Inflation Hits New Four-Decade High

U.S. consumer inflation eased slightly in September from a year earlier, but price increases excluding energy and food accelerated to a new four-decade high.   

The Labor Department on Thursday said that the consumer-price index, a measure of what consumers pay for goods and services, gained 8.2% in September from the same month a year ago, down from 8.3% in August. That was down from an annual increase of 8.5% in July and 9.1% in June, which was the highest inflation rate in four decades.

So-called core CPI, which excludes volatile energy...