WASHINGTON (AP) — Sharply lower prices for gas and cheaper used cars slowed U.S. inflation in August for a second straight month, though many other items rose in price, indicating that inflation remains a heavy burden for American households.
Join our WhatsApp groupSubscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
Consumer prices surged 8.3% in August compared with a year earlier, the government said Tuesday. Though still painfully high, that was down from an 8.5% jump in July and a four-decade high of 9.1% in June. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.1%, after a flat reading in July.
Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, so-called core prices jumped 0.6% from July to August, higher than many economists had expected and a sign of inflation’s persistence.
Despite the signs of moderating price increases, inflation remains far higher than many Americans have ever experienced and is keeping pressure on the Federal Reserve, the agency tasked with keeping prices stable. The Fed is expected to announce another big increase in its benchmark interest rate next week, which will lead to higher costs for many consumer and business loans.
Inflation has escalated families’ grocery bills, rents and utility costs, among other expenses, inflicting hardships on many households and deepening gloom about the economy despite strong job growth and low unemployment.
Even if inflation peaks, economists expect it could take two years or more to fall back to something close to the Fed’s annual 2% target. The cost of rental apartments and other services, such as health care, are likely to keep rising in the months ahead.
The CPI for August rose 0.1% when a decrease was anticipated. The U.S. stock market is down sharply in response as the odds increase for a large interest rate hike.
just like the border is secure.
VIN is publishing want people want to read – instead of what they should be reading. Who really cares about whether the cost of used cars has dropped? How often do you need to buy one? Gasoline prices will go up again in a few weeks because OPEC has agreed to reductions in output, and the core-inflation number is still unacceptably high because of pent-up consumer demand. We are all to blame. We blithely pay more than $1000 to rent a gown for a wedding, meekly pay $2.99 a pound for peaches, and grudgingly pay ten cents a cup for a sleeve of disposable hot-cups. All of these prices are significantly higher than they were a year ago. If we had the will to say no, these prices and many others would be reduced in the market place.
It is such good news it caused the Dow to drop 1200+ points a nearly 4% drop and caused the S&P and Nasdaq to drop 4 & 5 percent respectively.
More good news! Still, gasoline is still very high.
must be the midterms coming up
All I know about January 6th is that Gas was $2.17 a gallon, and every American needs to vote on 11/8/2022 & on 11/5/2024 with just this piece of knowledge in mind & so absolutely nothing else.