US October CPI Report Canceled for the First Time, Inflation Trend Awaited

2025-11-24

Latest updates in November 2025 indicate that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics was unable to conduct price surveys during the federal funding lapse, leading to the cancellation of the October 2025 CPI release. Since CPI calculations heavily rely on real-time surveys, the missing data cannot be reconstructed retroactively, leaving October’s inflation conditions incomplete. However, some non-survey-based inputs will be incorporated into the November release. As a result, the November CPI publication date has been postponed from December 10 to December 18.

According to the BLS, price surveys could not be legally conducted during the shutdown, and the associated data cannot be rebuilt afterward. This makes it impossible to produce both the headline and core CPI for October, and updates will only resume once data collection is restored. In addition, the Bureau of Economic Analysis announced that the release of another key inflation gauge, the PCE, will also be rescheduled, with the exact date yet to be determined. This further widens the information gap for markets and policymakers, leaving the Federal Reserve without a critical inflation indicator ahead of its year-end rate meeting and adding uncertainty to policy assessment.

From a market perspective, the absence of October CPI deprives investors of a major short-term inflation signal, potentially increasing volatility risks. In the mid-term, the November CPI—set for release on December 18—will offer a more complete picture of price trends, helping the market and the Federal Reserve reassess the path of future policies. Market expectations generally foresee inflation hovering around 3 percent, and the upcoming data will play a pivotal role in shaping the year-end policy decision.