What got more expensive for US consumers in October?

By Dan Burns

Nov 10 (Reuters) – US consumer prices rose more than expected in October, prompting financial markets to pile into bets the Federal Reserve will have to respond aggressively with interest rate increases to rein in inflation.

Here are some of the items seeing notable increases in the Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index for October.

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

Prices for public transportation services overall rose 2.0% in October from the month before, led by the largest increase in six years for intracity transportation, including mass transit rider fees.

CAR INSURANCE

After several years of outsized increases, motor vehicle insurance costs had begun easing this year. In October, though, they increased sharply.

MEDICAL CARE

Medical care services costs rose by the most in three months in October.

SMARTPHONES

Smartphone prices have only been tracked as an individual category by the Labor Department since 2020, and they have registered far more monthly declines than increases in that period. In October, though, they rose by the most ever and have posted increases in four of the last seven months.

TELEVISIONS

TVs are one of the few CPI categories that have a long history of persistent price declines, but in October they saw one of the biggest price increases on record.

BABY FORMULA

Overall food and grocery prices rose by the most in six months in October. The increase was broad-based across most food categories, and baby food and infant formula prices rose by the most ever.

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(Reporting by Dan Burns; Editing by Andrea Ricci )