Saturday, October 31, 2026
Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, estimates the war with Iran has cost the average U.S. household almost $2,000: $1,100 in energy, $540 in interest rates and $360 in military costs. AAA put regular gasoline at $4.30 and diesel at $6.32 a gallon on Sunday 18 October.
The Census Bureau said on Thursday 15 October that U.S. retail and food services sales were $745.0 billion in September, up 0.8 per cent from August and 6.3 per cent from a year earlier. Once autos and gasoline stations are removed, the gain was 0.2 per cent, a figure the bureau flags as statistically indistinguishable from zero. August was revised up to 1.3 per cent.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Thursday 15 October that the Producer Price Index for final demand rose 1.3 per cent in September and 6.3 per cent from a year earlier. Energy rose 10.8 per cent and accounted for more than 80 per cent of the increase in goods prices. The measure that excludes food, energy and trade rose 0.5 per cent in the month and 5.0 per cent over the year.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Wednesday 14 October that consumer prices rose 0.6 per cent in September on a seasonally adjusted basis and 3.7 per cent from a year earlier, up from 3.4 per cent in August. Core prices, which exclude food and energy, rose 0.3 per cent in the month and 2.6 per cent over the year. Gasoline accounted for more than half of the monthly increase.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics will publish September consumer prices on Wednesday 14 October at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. Forecasts put headline inflation at 3.6 to 3.7 per cent, up from 3.4 per cent in August, and core at 2.4 to 2.5 per cent. Nothing has been published yet; these are forecasts.
Speaking at his golf resort in Ireland on Sunday, President Trump said the US would ultimately leave Iran "unless we decide to stay and keep the oil like Venezuela," and that gasoline prices would "drop like a rock" when the war ends. The two statements point in opposite directions. One describes a withdrawal. The other describes an occupation of the world's most contested oil infrastructure.