Surging gas prices likely drove US inflation to new 40-year high
WASHINGTON - U.S. inflation likely reached a new 40-year high in June, driven up by a spike in gas costs, more expensive food and rent, and pricier cars and hotel rooms.A government report Wednesday is expected to show that consumer prices soared 8.8% in June compared with a year earlier, according to data provide FactSet.
That would be an increase from 8.6% in May and the biggest yearly rise since December 1981.Inflation at that level would make it highly likely the Federal Reserve will implement another large interest rate increase at its next meeting in two weeks.
Higher rates are intended to cool consumer and business spending and slow the economy and inflation.Such large price increases would also highlight the brutal impact that inflation has had on many families' finances, as the costs of many necessities has soared at a faster pace than incomes.
Lower-income Americans and Black and Hispanic families have fared worse, as a greater percentage of their budgets are spent on items like gas and food.So far in July, however, gas prices have fallen from the eye-watering $5 a gallon reached in mid-June to an average of $4.66 nationwide as of Tuesday.
United States
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Cases: 46 252 513
Deaths: 750 423
Recovered: 0
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India
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Cases: 34 321 025
Deaths: 459 652
Recovered: 0
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Brazil
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Cases: 21 835 785
Deaths: 608 235
Recovered: 0
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United Kingdom
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Cases: 9 215 683
Deaths: 141 607
Recovered: 0
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Russia
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Cases: 8 494 589
Deaths: 237 619
Recovered: 0
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