NYC Gas Prices Fall Again, Yet Inflation Stubbornly Ticks Up: Data

NEW YORK CITY — New Yorkers saved money at the gas pump in September, but likely still felt their wallets grow lighter thanks to inflation on other items, new consumer price data shows.

Consumer prices rose 0.2 percent overall last month across the New York City area, even as gas prices fell 11.5 percent and food prices remained flat, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics released Thursday.

Inflation drove up prices 6.2 percent overall in the past year across the region, the data shows.

And New Yorkers can find some cold comfort that inflation in their state still lags behind the national numbers.

"Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 8.2 percent before seasonal adjustment," a Bureau of Labor Statistics release states.

New York's overall price increase in September was driven by items besides food and energy, the data shows.

Housing prices, for example, rose 0.4 percent, while apparel and medical care rose 1.8 percent and 1.0 percent, respectively, according to the data.

Those increases offset the falling gas prices New Yorkers saw in recent months, the data shows.

See September's consumer price index data for New York here.