The prices U.S. consumers pay for goods and services continued to climb in August, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics finding that inflation ticked up even before renewed conflict in the Middle East sent oil prices soaring again.
\n\nThe consumer price index rose by 0.4% for the month — an annual rate of 3.4% — with significant jumps in the technology, airfare and communication sectors leading the way.
\n\nCore inflation, a closely watched indicator that excludes food and energy prices, jumped more than economists had expected, which many immediately saw as opening the door for a Federal Reserve rate hike next week.
\n\n“America still has an inflation problem,” Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, wrote on X.
\n\nEven before energy prices began surging again at end of the month, “the index for gasoline rose 3.9 percent in August, accounting for over one third of the monthly all items increase,” BLS said.
\n\nThis week, President Donald Trump began acknowledging that it may take until November to get gas prices lower again. “Right after the election, oil prices are going to be tumbling downward,” he told reporters Wednesday.
\n\nMeanwhile, BLS said shelter costs ticked up 0.3%, and food costs…
Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/