US consumer prices rise 0.3% in August, lowest in 7 months
U.S. consumer prices rose a lower-than-expected 0.3% last month, the smallest increase in seven months and a hopeful sign that a recent jump in inflation may be cooling.
The August gain was weaker than the 0.5% increase in July and a 0.9% surge in June, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. It was the smallest increase since prices rose 0.3% in January.
While the upward march of prices appears to have eased last month, supply chains are still snarled especially for critical components like computer chips.
Consumer demand is easily outpacing supply, which will push prices higher.
Over the past 12 months, prices are up 5.3% - down slightly from two consecutive months averaging 5.4%, the strongest 12-month price gains since 2008.
At: https://apnews.com/article/business-prices-inflation-consumer-prices-2479b000e3cb1b2fbc73651dbf8c45fc
A motorist takes advantage of a price break at a Corpus Christie, TX, gas station yesterday.
Nationally, gas prices rose an average of 2.8% in August - though total inflation slowed to 0.3% for the month.
