Numerator October 2026 Consumer Goods Price Index, Digi Mart USA News: Consumer data and technology company Numerator released its October 2026 Consumer Goods Price Index (CGPI), an advance read on consumer inflation based on verified household purchases. The index measures the prices consumers actually pay for everyday goods and reflects changes in purchasing behavior, including brand and retailer switching.
According to Numerator, prices for everyday household purchases increased 0.6% in October following a 0.7% increase in September. These consecutive monthly increases came after decreases in August and July.
Year over year, prices for everyday goods rose 2.7% in October, an acceleration from the 2.1% annual rate recorded in September.
“After two months of declining prices this summer, inflation for everyday goods has accelerated again, and consumers are increasingly concerned about what comes next,” said Paul Stanley, senior economist at Numerator. “Prices are now nearly 35% higher than they were in 2018, and more than four in 10 consumers say rising prices are their top concern for the coming year.
The latest data show that inflation remains a persistent pressure on household budgets, particularly for younger consumers who continue to experience higher price increases than the national average.”
Prices for everyday household goods are up 34.8% since January 2018. Concern about rising prices is at a record high.
In Numerator’s October 2026 Economic Sentiment Tracker of more than 2,000 U.S. consumers, 42.2% identified rising prices as their top concern for the coming year, surpassing the previous record of 40.5% from the August 2026 survey.
Numerator has tracked consumer sentiment and financial outlook monthly since January 2024.
Low-income and Gen Z consumers continue to face higher inflation for everyday household goods. Prices have increased 36.7% and 41.3%, respectively, for those groups since January 2018, compared with the 34.8% national average.
Numerator says these consumers spend more on quick-service restaurants, where prices have risen 55.4% since January 2018. Gen Z consumers also experienced the largest year-over-year growth in October at 3.8%, compared with the 2.7% U.S.
average.
Regionally, cumulative inflation remained relatively similar across the South, West and Midwest in October, while the Northeast recorded the smallest price increase since January 2018 at 33.7%. Since the summer, the Midwest and West have consistently experienced higher annual inflation rates than the Northeast and South.
Numerator notes that its CGPI is similar to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis’ Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index.
The data cover approximately 20% of the consumption basket captured in the overall PCE price index and closely track the PCE Food & Beverage index.
