It was the lowest reading since December 2021 and a significant improvement on this year’s peak rate of 9.1% in June.“We’re still very much in the woods, but we see a path out.”The Fed has raised interest rates at each of its past six meetings — including an unprecedented streak of four three-quarter-point hikes — to help knock down the highest inflation since the early 1980s.“That hopefully is an indication that some of the supply chain issues are becoming disinflationary, because we need a lot of goods disinflation to offset the services inflation that we’re going to experience over the next six, nine, 12 months.”Economists have expressed concern about inflation in services-related sectors and the potential for them to remain “sticky,” meaning that once prices go up, they don’t easily go down.To be sure, the Federal Reserve’s campaign to slow economic growth eventually will have a dampening effect on the job market, but it will take time.”Shelter prices remain the largest contributor to the monthly CPI increase, the BLS noted.That component likely will remain high until next year when the CPI data reflects the annual calculation of market rents, which have been on the decline, Sweet said."