New York (CNN Business)Higher prices have been the pandemic recovery’s collateral damage. Even though higher Washington insists higher inflation may just be temporary, America’s prices keep rising — albeit at a slightly slower pace.
In July, the pace of consumer price inflation slowed some, but it still remained elevated, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday.Stripping out more volatile food and energy items, consumer prices rose 4.3% in the 12 months ended in July, slightly below the June’s rise. Overall, prices rose 5.4% over the period, flat compared with June.
For the month alone, adjusted for seasonal swings, prices rose 0.5% on the whole and 0.3% stripping out food and energy items, representing a slowdown on both fronts. Price increases for shelter, food, energy and new cars were the major contributors to the index’s jump.
But the pace of the gains slowed, and the major driver of that was the price index for used cars, which was nearly unchanged.Read MoreThis came as a surprise, given that used vehicle prices have soared in the past year as people were willing to pay a premium for mobility and new cars were in short supply amid a chip shortage. Over the past 12 months, the used car index is still up nearly 42%, a gain matched only by prices for gasoline.
In other transportation news, the price index for airline fares also fell after rising sharply in past months as the reopening accelerated.This is a developing story. It will be updated
Source: edition.cnn.com
