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| Photo Credit: AP. |
Inflation in the United States dropped from its 40-year high in June but still remains high at 8.5% in July.
Falling gas prices has had tremendous impact on rising inflation. In July consumer prices rose to 9.1%, prompting the Feds to raise interest rates which triggered recession fears over increased cost of doing business.
The government
said Wednesday that consumer prices jumped 8.5% compared with the 9.1%
year-over-year jump in June, The Associated Press reports.
Average pay
checks are rising faster than they have in decades but not fast enough to keep
up with rising costs for items such as food, rent, autos and medical services,
according to The Associated Press.
How much has U.S. core prices risen?
Core prices
rose just 0.3$% from June except volatile food and energy categories, a marked
deviation from the 5.9% core prices in July, the same year-over-year increase
as in June, according to The Associated Press. President Joe Biden had ordered
the release of oil from the nation’s strategic reserve which appears to be
helping to ease the prices of gas.
The Associated
Press reported that the House will give final congressional approval to a
revived tax-and-climate- package pushed by Biden and Democratic lawmakers. The proposal
termed the Inflation Reduction Act may not have the much needed push on effect in
reducing rising inflation in the country, according to economists.
Federal Reserve wants series of declining core inflation readings to halt interest rates hikes
Federal
Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the Fed needs to see a series of declining
monthly core inflation readings before it would consider pausing its rates
hikes, according to The Associated Press. The Feds earlier raised its benchmark
short-term rate at its past four rate-setting meetings, including a
three-quarter point hike in both June and July – the first of its kind since 1994.
Last Friday the
government labor figures showed that 528,000 jobs were added in July bringing the
country’s jobless rate to just 3.5%.