Bitcoin swung more than $1,100 in the five minutes following the Bureau of Labor Statistics release of October inflation data. The asset touched $73,400 on Coinbase before steadying in the high-$73,000s. This movement occurred after the Consumer Price Index rose 0.4% in October on a seasonally adjusted basis. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, increased by 0.3%, matching its August and September readings. Both figures were a tenth of a percentage point above what economists had expected.
Market Reaction to the Data
The BLS reported at 8:30 a.m. ET that headline CPI was higher than consensus forecasts. Economists anticipated a 0.3% rise for headline CPI and a 0.2% increase for core CPI. The Cleveland Fed’s inflation nowcast placed both measures nearer 0.2%. Bitcoin traded between roughly $74,120 and $74,360 in the half hour before the release. In the five-minute window beginning at 8:30 a.m. ET, the price ranged from a high of $74,599 to a low of $73,400. It closed that specific window at $73,890. Trading volume surged to about 483 BTC in that period, compared with about 36 BTC in the five minutes prior. At 9:06 a.m. ET, bitcoin sat at approximately $73,774, roughly 1.4% below its price 24 hours earlier.
Details Within the Report
Shelter costs climbed 0.3%, driving more than three-tenths of October’s overall gain according to the BLS. The energy index rose 0.7% in October after a 5.2% jump in September. Food prices also increased by 0.5%. Used car and truck prices fell 1.2%. The report carried no 12-month inflation rate for either headline or core CPI. Because of the 2025 lapse in government funding, the agency never surveyed prices for October 2025. Most categories therefore have no year-over-year comparison in this document. The BLS is scheduled to publish November CPI on Dec. 10. I view the lack of year-over-year data as a significant limitation for assessing long-term trends. Investors must rely on month-over-month shifts until the next full dataset arrives. The immediate market reaction confirms that traders remain sensitive to any deviation from forecasted inflation numbers.
