CPI Report Today: Investors (and The Fed) Await August Inflation Data — Live Updates

The Consumer Price Index rose 3.4% in August from a year earlier, according to data released today, driving trader expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hike next week above 80%. The inflation print underscores persistent price pressures despite months of central bank tightening.

The August figure signals that inflation remains entrenched well above the Fed's 2% target, complicating the central bank's efforts to engineer a soft landing. The report arrives days before the Federal Open Market Committee convenes to decide monetary policy, with markets now pricing in more than an 80% probability of another rate increase.

Consumer prices have remained elevated as core services inflation proves difficult to tame. The 3.4% year-over-year gain suggests the Fed's aggressive rate-hiking campaign has yet to fully cool demand across the economy. Central bank officials have repeatedly warned they will maintain restrictive policy until inflation shows sustained progress toward target.