High inflation locked in as major campaign headwind for Dems:

Thursday’s inflation numbers said consumer prices rose faster than expected in September, and the inflation rate remained near 40-year highs, likely cementing voter worries about the state of the economy as they head to the polls in November.

It was the last report on consumer inflation voters will see before they vote Nov. 8, and election watchers said inflation seems likely to be a major issue for voters, even as other issues like abortion and democracy compete for their attention.

“It’s the kind of thing that impacts everyone at every level of our social status and economic status,” Matt Germer, a resident elections fellow for the libertarian R Street Institute, told Fox News Digital. 

“We all buy groceries, we buy gasoline, we pay our utility bills. And when those are going up month after month, it’s putting budgets under pressure. And that’s the kind of thing that motivates people in November.”

SOARING INFLATION DRIVES MORE AMERICANS TO LIVE PAYCHECK TO PAYCHECK DESPITE 501% INCREASE IN WAGES

The Labor Department said Thursday the consumer price index, a broad measure of the price for everyday goods, including gasoline, groceries and rents, rose 0.4% in September from the previous month. Prices climbed 8.2% on an annual basis.

Those figures were both higher than the 8.1% headline figure and 0.2% monthly increase forecast by Refinitiv economists. In an even more concerning development that suggests underlying inflationary pressures in the economy remain strong, core prices, which strip out the more volatile measurements of food and energy, climbed 0.6% in September from the previous month. From the same time last year, core prices jumped 6.6%, the fastest since 1982.

Republicans have been attacking Democrats on the issue since last year and appear poised to keep hammering their opponents on that issue until Election Day.

President Biden and top congressional Democrats backed the “Inflation Reduction Act” earlier this year in an effort to tame rising prices despite debate whether it will actually reduce inflation. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images / Getty Images)

“Every American is dealing with the out-of-control price hikes caused by Democrats’ reckless spending. That’s why poll after poll shows inflation is the No. 1 issue headed into the midterms.” National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Mike Berg told Fox News Digital.

Democrats argue that they’ve moved major pieces of legislation aimed at cutting inflation, including a bipartisan infrastructure bill and the Inflation Reduction Act, though Republicans dispute the claim it will actually lower inflation.

YELLEN SAYS INFLATION FIGHT REMAINS TOP PRIORITY FOR BIDEN AFTER HOT SEPTEMBER REPORT

“The only party with an actual economic plan is the Democratic Party,”…