by Julianne Geiger at Oil Price
- WTI fell to $86 per barrel on Thursday morning.
- U.S. core inflation hits a 40-year high.
- U.S. retail prices for a gallon of gasoline were down on Thursday from Wednesday but are still up from the month-ago levels.
Oil prices fell on Thursday morning following new CPI data that showed core inflation in the United States had risen to the highest level in four decades.
WTI crude prices fell 1.57% to $85.90, while Brent crude fell 1.16% to $91.38 per barrel on the news, which showed CPI came in higher than anticipated, renewing fears that the Federal Reserve could aggressively raise interest rates in November.
That interest rate hike could further stymie economic growth, easing the demand for crude oil.
Core inflation—a measure of price increases excluding food and energy costs—rose 6.6% over the last year—a level not seen since 1982, the US Labor Department shared on Thursday. Total inflation, which includes food and energy, rose 8.2% in September from September 2021. To compare, CPI rose 8.5% in July and 8.3% in August, from the respective year-ago periods.
September’s inflation figures would have been worse had it not been for gasoline prices which fell in the month. The gasoline price index fell 4.9% in September.
“The energy index declined 2.1 percent in September after falling 5.0 percent in August,” the US Labor Department Summary said.
“The gasoline index fell 4.9 percent over the month following a…