Inflation increased slightly in September and moved closer to the Federal Reserve’s target, according to a Commerce Department report Thursday. The personal consumption expenditures price index showed a seasonally adjusted 0.2% increase for the month ...

The Fed surprised many in September when it voted to cut the federal funds rate by a half-percent instead of the expected quarter-percent. The Federal Open Market Committee lowered the federal funds rate to 4.75% to 5% after holding interest rates at record highs for more than a year in an attempt to bring soaring inflation back down to 2%.

Overall inflation slowed in September from a year earlier, though some signs of stubbornness lingered under the surface.