U.S. Inflation Eased Slightly to 8.5% in July

By WSJ
Posted on 08/10/22 | News Source: WSJ

U.S. inflation eased slightly but remained close to a four-decade high in July despite cooling energy prices.

The Labor Department on Wednesday reported that the consumer-price index rose 8.5% in July from the same month a year ago, down from 9.1% in June. June marked the fastest pace of inflation since November 1981. The CPI measures what consumers pay for goods and services.

Core CPI, which excludes often volatile energy and food prices, held steady in July, increasing 5.9% from the same month a year ago, a sign that broad price pressures remain in the economy.

On a monthly basis, the CPI was flat in July after rising 1.3% the prior month, the result of falling energy prices such as gasoline. The core-price index climbed 0.3% last month, down sharply from June’s 0.7% gain, but slightly higher than the average monthly gain of 0.2% in the two years before the pandemic.