Inflation picked up speed in September as gasoline and diesel costs surged, putting more pressure on Americans weeks before the midterm elections, the Wall Street Journal reported. Consumer prices were 3.7% higher than a year earlier, up from 3.4% in August and above the 3.6% that economists had expected, the New York Post reported, citing the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Journal said the yearly rate is now the highest since May, and prices climbed 0.6% from August alone, according to Quartz.

Gasoline prices jumped 9.1% in a single month and accounted for more than half of the overall increase, the Journal reported. Gasoline now costs about a third more than it did a year ago, and overall energy prices are up about 20%, Fox Business reported.

Core prices, which leave out food and energy and which economists watch for lasting trends, increased 2.6% from a year earlier, up from 2.4% in August, and both its monthly and yearly readings topped analysts' forecasts, Fox Business reported.

Grocery shoppers caught a modest break, since food prices were unchanged from August, ABC News reported, and the cost of housing and airline tickets rose, Quartz said.

Before the war with Iran began in February, yearly inflation was running at 2.4%, and the average gallon of gas cost less than $3, ABC News reported. Inflation reached a three-year high in May, then eased slightly during a temporary pause in the fighting that expired in August, ABC reported. Diesel, which trucks burn to deliver goods to stores, costs about 66% more than before the war, ABC said, while NBC News put the increase at 70%.

The report adds pressure on the Federal Reserve, which raised interest rates by a quarter point last month, its first increase since 2023, ABC News reported. "The plain fact is that inflation is too high and has been for too long," Fed Chair Kevin Warsh said then, ABC reported. Before Wednesday's report, traders expected the Fed to wait until December to raise rates again, NBC News reported. Investors now estimate the probability of a hike at the October 28 meeting at about 45%, ABC said, citing CME Group's FedWatch tool.

That meeting comes days before the midterm elections, ABC reported, and polls show the cost of living is a top issue for voters in both parties, NBC News said. The government's next consumer price report is due November 10, Quartz reported.

What we know: Consumer prices rose 3.7% in the year through September, led by a 9.1% jump in gasoline prices.
What we don't: Whether the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates again on October 28, days before the midterms.