October food prices moderated, as widely expected, with the food-price component of the index up 11.9% from a year earlier, compared to a 13.4% increase in September. Nonfood prices also slowed, rising 2.7% from a year earlier compared to 2.9% in September.
In an especially significant development, food prices actually fell by 0.2% from September, and the overall CPI index rose by just 0.1% from the previous month. In September, the CPI was up 0.5% from August.