“August’s CPI report will likely suggest firms are having difficulty passing higher input prices on to consumers — even as freight costs have risen. That suggests further margin compression down the line, with the possibility that firms resort to layoffs to cut costs.

Here are the key points to know from August's consumer-price index: Year-over-year CPI rose by 2.5%, a little less than economists expected, and slower than July's 2.9% rate. Annual core CPI , which s