US inflation rose 3.7% in September, more than economists expected and still well above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, as the central bank weighs whether to hike interest rates again by year’s end.
The reading for the Consumer Price Index a closely watched measure of inflation that tracks changes in the costs of everyday goods and services matches the reading in August, and is slightly above the 3.6% advance that economists expected, according to data by the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Thursday.
On a monthly basis, inflation slowed to 0.4% from 0.6% in August, partly because of lower pressure from energy prices.
However, core CPI a number that excludes volatile food and energy prices and serves as a closely watched gauge among policymakers for long-term trends held steady at 0.3% month to month and rose 4.1% from a year ago, in line with expectations.
Though September’s CPI is also a cooldown from inflation’s 9.1% peak in June 2022, it still remains well above the Fed’s 2% goal. Stock futures dropped ahead of the market opening as traders increased their bets of another rate hike to around 50%, up from 30% earlier this week.
“The bigger picture is that the trend is still quite encouraging, but the fight continues,” said Olu Sonola, head of US regional economics at Fitch Ratings in New York. “They [Fed officials] may now want to extend the pause to December, given the recent increase in long-term rates.”
The gasoline index’s 2.1% advance was also a large contributor to the CPI, the data showed, though the federal agency said shelter’s 0.2% increase accounted for over half of the increase.
Gasoline experienced an eye-watering 10.6% increase last month, when AAA figures showed that the average price for a gallon of gas was $3.85.
As of Thursday, a gallon of gas in the US averages $3.65, according to AAA.
While many investors had been willing to look past the volatile energy numbers, a surprisingly resilient labor market has some worried that inflation could be more stubborn.
September’s employment report revealed that the US economy added a whopping 336,000 jobs last month — an unexpected surge that contradicts the notion the Fed may tamp down its aggressive tightening regime.
The blowout number was nearly double the 170,000 jobs economists had expected, and also sharply higher than an upwardly revised 227,000 jobs added in August, according to fresh data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics last week.
The news sent yields on US Treasury bonds to their highest levels in 16 years and sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average into the red for 2023.
Since inflation hit a four-decade peak last summer, the central bank has worked to bring the stubborn figure down by hiking rates another 25 basis points to a 22-year high in August in hopes of an economic slowdown.
The benchmark federal funds rate currently sits between 5.25% and 5.5%. Last month, Fed officials unanimously decided to hold the record-high rate steady for the second time in six policy meetings so far this year.
But thanks to a strong labor market, the US economy has avoided a downturn, and even the Fed has said its no longer predicting the economy will slip into a recession by the end of the year.
“We must wait for more data to see if this is just a blip or if there is something more fundamental driving the increase such as higher rent increases in larger cities offsetting softer increases in smaller cities,” said US Bank of America Securities economist Stephen Juneau.
“When deciding whether to raise rates one last time this year, the FOMC will be asking whether inflation needs another nudge or if its getting to 2% on its own. Its increasingly looking like the latter,” NerdWallet data analyst Elizabeth Renter told The Post.
“The Fed, astheyreall too happy to remind us, is laser focused on getting inflation down to 2%.”
Fed Chair Jerome Powell has said central bankers will be taking a data-dependent approach moving forward, leaving more interest rate hikes before years end up in the air.
Markets were spooked ahead of the jobs report, falling more than 1% when the Labor Department released its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary, which showed job openings increased to 9.61 million in August up from 8.9 million in July.
This weekend, tens of thousands of fans are expected to travel to Cooperstown, New York, as they do annually, to pay homage to new inductees and returning members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, visit the Hall and see an array of artifacts from the greats of the game — including Major League Baseball’s all-time hits leader, Pete Rose.
But Rose’s presence in the Hall’s exhibits didn’t require the action of a commissioner. The legendary “Charlie Hustle” has been there for decades, a constant in the museum’s presentation of the history of the game, with numerous pieces that he donated to the Hall. Rose, of course, is not a Hall of Famer, but fans have long been able to see him and his accomplishments represented in at least a dozen items on display, including bats and a ball, a cap, cleats, a jersey and more connected with his 4,256 hits, record numbers of games played and at-bats and myriad awards. The 17-time All-Star at a record five positions won three World Series titles and proudly referred to himself as the winningest player ever.
MLB banished Rose in 1989 after an investigation it commissioned found Rose, then the manager of the Cincinnati Reds, had bet on the sport and his own team’s games. Two years later, the Hall of Fame’s board decided anyone on MLB’s permanently ineligible list would also be ineligible for election to the Hall. That became known as “the Pete Rose rule.”
For nearly 15 years after baseball banned him, Rose repeatedly denied that he had bet on the sport. Before, and long after, his 2004 admission to having gambled on baseball games — including Reds games — during part of his managerial tenure with Cincinnati, Rose was a fixture in Cooperstown for induction weekends, signing and selling his autographs at a memorabilia store.
Just a block away at the Hall were Sparky Anderson, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan and Tony Perez of the 1975 and ’76 “Big Red Machine” championship teams with Rose, and Steve Carlton and Mike Schmidt of the 1980 Philadelphia Phillies with whom Rose won a championship, as well as several other teammates from his 24 seasons.
The Hall’s “Whole New Ballgame” exhibit, devoted to the era from 1970 to the present, features a Rose jersey from the 1973 season, when he won the National League Most Valuable Player Award; the ball and a ticket from the 1981 game when he tied Stan Musial’s National League hits record; and a 1978 can of a chocolate-flavored beverage named “Pete,” bearing a Rose action photo.
The section of the Hall that chronicles many of the game’s most hallowed records is titled “One for the Books.” It showcases Rose’s shoes and a scoresheet from his crowning achievement, Sept. 11, 1985, when he broke Ty Cobb’s career hits record. Also displayed is a pair of Rose bats from 1978, when he reached the 3,000-hit milestone and later tied the 1897 National League-record 44-game hitting streak by Wee Willie Keeler, and Rose’s Montreal Expos cap from 1984 when he broke Carl Yastrzemski’s record for games played.
In “Shoebox Treasures,” which examines the baseball cards phenomenon, visitors can see the Rose Topps card from 1975 and two Topps cards — one authentic and one counterfeit — from ’63, when he was named National League Rookie of the Year.
There is also an interactive exhibit on the subject of gambling that includes the Rose saga.
And according to the Hall, its archives contain dozens of holdings pertaining to Rose, from recorded interviews — including with Howard Stern — to correspondence and collectibles, as well as the investigative file from MLB’s 1989 probe of Rose’s gambling led by special counsel John Dowd.
Rose visited the Hall when he was 26 and a fifth-year star for Cincinnati. It was July 24, 1967, and the Reds toured the museum before losing to the Baltimore Orioles 3-0 in the then-annual Hall of Fame exhibition game, in which Rose went 0-for-3.
“This is really great,” Rose said as he looked around the Hall, per the Cincinnati Enquirer. “This is what baseball is all about.”
Rose marveled at the multitude of mementos from Babe Ruth, a member of Cooperstown’s inaugural 1936 class, and at the vast space specifically for the “Bambino” and his larger-than-life exploits on the diamond and beyond.
Dayton (Ohio) Daily News columnist Si Burick, who eventually would be selected to the Hall’s writers wing, recounted a moment from the visit in his column the next day:
When a fellow suggested to an awestruck Rose that he, too, might some day grace the Hall of Fame, if he continued at his present pace, the irrepressible Cincinnatian had a typical answer. Peter pointed to a cubicle filled with Ruth gadgets, and suggested, “There’s my chance to get in — with my bowling ball.”
Ruth’s bowling ball was on display and Rose was a winner four months earlier during spring training at a “Base-Bowl” event in a Tampa bowling alley that paired MLB and Professional Bowlers Association stars. Rose and Dick Weber edged Lou Brock of the St. Louis Cardinals and Wayne Zahn. Of the four, only Rose isn’t enshrined in either the baseball or PBA Hall of Fame.
“I got all the records, so you can throw me into the sea, but the records are still going to come to the top,” Rose said in a 2019 interview for ESPN’s “Backstory” program. “You can walk into the Hall of Fame, you see my name in things everywhere, which is fine. It’s good for me. It’s good for the Hall of Fame. The greatest thing for baseball is the history of baseball.”
With Rose now eligible for election, his Hall candidacy is to be considered by the Historical Overview Committee, which develops a ballot of eight names for the Classic Era Committee that is next scheduled to meet in December 2027. That era committee handles candidates whose greatest impact was prior to 1980, including Negro Leagues and pre-Negro Leagues stars. Its 16 members, comprising Hall of Famers, executives and veteran media members, are charged with weighing the eight candidates’ résumés, integrity, sportsmanship and character — 12 votes are needed for election.
The long-running debates over Rose surely will continue well past 2027. Regardless of whether he’s added to the Plaques Gallery signifying membership in the Hall — there will be 351 plaques as of Sunday, including the day’s five new inductees — there’s no disputing that Rose will continue to have places in the building.
ESPN senior writer Don Van Natta Jr. contributed to this report.
“For as long as I can remember, all I ever wanted to do was play baseball,” Ahmed wrote on social media. “I got to live out my childhood dream and play for a very long time! After 15 professional seasons and over a decade in the big leagues I am officially hanging up my spikes and retiring from playing.”
“To all of the organizations I got to play for… Atlanta, thank you for drafting me! Arizona… calling me up to the big leagues, and believing in me for 10 seasons! SF, LA, SD and TEX… thank you for giving me chances to continue doing what I loved!”
A Gold Glove winner in 2018 and 2019 while playing at shortstop, Ahmed batted .233 with 72 homers and 339 RBIs in 964 career games.
“I will always love the game of baseball,” he added. “I am excited for my next chapter and the [opportunity] to give the best of me to this game that we all love!”
CLEVELAND — Baltimore Orioles closer Felix Bautista, who is tied for sixth in the American League with 19 saves, was placed on the 15-day injured list Thursday with right shoulder discomfort.
Interim manager Tony Mansolino said the right-hander felt uncomfortable while stretching in the bullpen Wednesday during a 3-2 loss to the Cleveland Guardians. Bautista will undergo an MRI when the Orioles return home Friday.
“The (dugout) phone rang in the seventh inning last night and I thought, ‘That is not good,'” Mansolino said. “Then I heard it get slammed down and knew it wasn’t good.
“Félix had started his process of getting loose and that’s when it flared up.”
Bautista did not pitch in the first three games of the series in Cleveland, last seeing action on Sunday at Tampa Bay when he earned his 19th save in 20 opportunities. He missed the entire 2024 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
The 30-year-old Dominican has a 1-1 record and 2.60 ERA in 35 appearances, limiting opponents to a .134 batting average over 34 2/3 innings. Bautista has struck out 50 and walked 23.
“We just have to hope it’s not too serious,” Mansolino said.
The Orioles will use a closer-by-committee in the short term with righty setup men Seranthony Dominguez and Yennier Cano at the front of the line.
“We’re going to have to bump up their roles,” Mansolino said. “We’ll figure it out.”
Bautista will not enter free agency until 2028, but is eligible for arbitration following this season. The 6-foot-8, 285-pounder is in the final year of a two-year, $2 million contract.
With the Orioles out of wild-card contention, they are expected to be active sellers before the July 31 trade deadline.
