Inflation Gnaws at America’s Wealth

Like termites in a house, inflation slowly but surely gnaws away at Americans’ wealth.

A Mobil gas station is seen in Los Angeles, on Sept. 9, 2025. Photo by Frederic J. Brown / AFP

Commentary

This week’s release of September’s Consumer Price Index (CPI), a barometer of U.S. inflation, confirmed that inflation persists across the economy. Both CPI and Core CPI (which excludes food and energy prices), advanced by three percent on an annual basis. This was the highest CPI increase since January. While CPI bottomed at 2.3 percent in April, at no point has Core CPI moved much below three percent since 2022, and indications are that inflation will continue to creep up through the remainder of the year.