Inflation has been decreasing from the relatively high level it was at for the past few years (Figure 1). In October, the core inflation was 4.0% year-over-year. All items inflation was noticeably lower at 3.2% year-over-year.   These are down from relatively higher levels last year, but still above the Fed’s goal of about 2% year-over-year.

Seasonally adjusted month-over-month inflation was near zero in October 2023 (Figure 2). There have been months ...