Reports on inflation showed big price increases at the consumer level and the wholesale level for June, driven by higher energy and food costs.
Here are the details:
• Consumer inflation jumped 1.1 percent in June, the second biggest monthly increase in the past quarter-century. It was exceeded only by a 1.3 percent surge in September 2005 when energy prices skyrocketed after Hurricane Katrina shut down Gulf Coast refineries. Over the past 12 months, consumer prices are up by 5 percent, the fastest increase since May 1991.
• Food costs rose 0.7 percent, reflecting big increases in the price of vegetables, dairy products and beef.
• Outside of food and energy, so-called core inflation was up 0.3 percent, the biggest one-month gain since a similar rise last January. In this category, airline fares jumped 4.5 percent.
• Wholesale prices, which reflect the cost of products before they get to the consumer level, increased by 1.8 percent in June, the biggest one-month gain in seven months. Over the past 12 months, wholesale prices have risen by 9.2 percent, the biggest increase in 27 years.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080716/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/economy_glance;_ylt
=AnS1Lx6m7j918_eTCR8fQILv5rEF