Consumer Prices Rise Sharply

By Nell Henderson and Stephen Barr
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 14, 2005; 10:51 AM

Hurricane Katrina helped push inflation up sharply last month, guaranteeing that millions of Americans receiving Social Security and other federal benefits will see their payments rise in January by the largest amount since 1991, the government reported today.

But the Labor Department also reported that the widely followed consumer price index for all urban consumers, rose 1.2 percent last month and 4.7 percent in the 12 months that ended in September. That was the biggest monthly rise since March, 1980, and the biggest 12-month increase since May, 1991.