Inflation hit a bump in October after slowing for six straight months

Inflation moved in the wrong direction last month as price pressures persisted in areas such as housing, used cars and food.

Consumer prices rose 0.2% last month and were up 2.6% from the year before, according to the latest Consumer Price Index data released Wednesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Housing-related inflation accounted for half of the monthly rise.

While it appears that progress on reining in price hikes backtracked a bit, Wednesday's report underscored that the last mile of taming inflation will be a slog.

Economists were expecting the annual rate to increase, due to unfavorable comparisons from a year ago and stubborn housing-related inflation. Consensus estimates were for a 0.2% monthly increase and a 2.6% annual increase in the overall CPI, according to FactSet.

The Consumer Price Index measures price changes across commonly purchased goods and services.

Excluding food and energy, two categories that can be quite volatile, core CPI rose 0.3% for the month and 3.3% from the year before, the same increases seen in September.

While high inflation has practically been tamed, plenty of risks remain, including volatility in the Middle East, still-strong consumer demand, and President-elect Donald Trump's floated plans to hike tariffs and conduct mass deportations.

This story is developing and will be updated.