U.S. inflation still persists — but it was lower than expected. But why?

The U.S. inflation rate was reported at 3%. While it was lower than expected (3.1%), it is still high. What was the major cause of the lower-than-expected reading?

September 2025 CPI snapshot. Headline CPI rose 3.0% year over year and 0.3% month over month; Core CPI slowed to 3.0% year over year and 0.2% month over month, undershooting consensus by a tenth. Sou…