By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
A key US inflation gauge reaches 6.8% as prices keep surging
20220729-085155-preview.jpg
FILE - Gas prices are displayed at a Sunoco gas station along the Ohio Turnpike near Youngstown, Ohio, Tuesday, July 12, 2022. U.S. consumer confidence slid again in July 2022, as concerns about higher prices for food, gas and just about everything else continued to weigh on Americans. The Conference Board said Tuesday, July 26, 2022, that its consumer confidence index fell to 95.7 in July from 98.4 in June, largely due to consumers' anxiety over the current conditions, particularly four-decade high inflation. - photo by AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File
WASHINGTON (AP) — An inflation gauge that is closely tracked by the Federal Reserve jumped 6.8% in June from a year ago, the biggest increase in four decades, and leaving Americans with no relief from surging costs. Friday's figures from the Commerce Department underscored the persistence of the inflation that is eroding Americans' purchasing power, dimming their confidence in the economy and threatening Democrats in Congress in the run-up to the November midterm elections. On a month-to-month basis, prices rose 1% from May to June, faster than the 0.6% rise from April to May and the biggest such jump since 2005.