The Inflation Report Is Out. The One Number Everyone Quotes Isn’t In It.

The inflation report landed at 8:30 this morning, and it is missing the one number everyone quotes (the yearly rate). There is no year-over-year inflation rate for October, for the headline index or the core index, because most October 2025 prices were never collected during the shutdown. The report still tells you plenty: prices rose 0.4% in a month. And the IRS's 2027 inflation adjustments are already set, so this report changes nothing about them.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the October Consumer Price Index this morning, Tuesday, November 10. Consumer prices rose 0.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis in October, after rising 0.6% in September. Core prices, which leave out food and energy, rose 0.3%, the third month in a row at that pace. Shelter rose 0.3% and alone made up over 30% of the month's increase. Food rose 0.5% and energy rose 0.7%.

Those are the numbers in the report. The number that is not in the report is the one every headline usually leads with: inflation versus a year ago, for the headline index and the core index.

Why there is no yearly number

A year-over-year rate compares this October's prices with last October's prices. The Bureau of Labor Statistics did not collect survey data for October 2025 because of the federal shutdown (a lapse in appropriations) that ran from October 1 to November 12, 2025. With most October 2025 prices never collected, the Bureau says it cannot publish 12-month percent changes for October 2026 for the indexes where that data is unavailable.

Which indexes are missing: the headline index and the core index. Which still have data: a few smaller series, like gasoline, whose October 2025 data exists. September's yearly readings: 3.7% headline, 2.6% core.

BLS has scheduled the November report for December 10.

What the monthly number still tells you

Without a yearly figure, the monthly change is the story. Prices rose 0.4% in one month, a little cooler than September's 0.6%. Core prices rose 0.3% for the third month running, August, September, and October. Shelter rose 0.3% and alone made up over 30% of the month's overall increase.

Do not let anyone quote you a yearly rate for October, for the headline index or the core index. There is no official one. Anyone giving you a number for October versus last year is estimating, not reporting.

Why this is a tax story

The IRS adjusts the tax brackets and the standard deduction for inflation once a year, using a different BLS inflation measure, the chained CPI, averaged over the 12 months ending August 31. October's report does not change the 2027 numbers, because those were built on data through August and are already set: the IRS released them on November 5, with a standard deduction of $16,600 for single filers and $33,200 for married couples filing jointly, generally applying to the return you file in 2028. That is a number you can potentially plan around now, while the October report is just the newest monthly reading.

Alex Volkov, CPA is a New York-licensed CPA with over two decades in accounting, focused on resolving IRS tax problems: back taxes, liens, levies, garnishments, and audits, for individuals and businesses nationwide.