Oct 2024 had positive EPO:
Oct 2023 was negative:
Oct 2022 was neutral... Oct 2021 was positive. Oct 2020 looks neutral maybe slightly negative. Oct 2019 had a slightly negative EPO and 2019-20 was very positive.
So looking back at the last few years, there isn't a single year where this correlation has actually existed. Maybe 2017-18 but it's weak.
I think we can look at these correlations, but even in what you showed the significance seems to be pretty minor. I'm not sure this is a causal relationship at all, and if it is, it's a very, very minor factor.