
Inflation is cooling faster than expected, June CPI report shows
CBSN
Consumer prices are continuing to moderate, with June data showing U.S. inflation is once again cooling after unexpectedly high readings earlier this year. The new report could help bolster the case for an interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve in September.
Consumer prices declined 0.1% in June from May, with inflation curtailed by lower gas prices and a smaller increase in costs at the grocery store. On an annual basis, inflation registered at 3.0%, down from 3.3% in May, indicating that inflation is cooling faster than expected, as economists had forecasted an increase of 3.1%, according to FactSet.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday signaled "considerable progress" in slowing inflation to the central bank's 2% target. Still, he emphasized that the central bank needs to see "more good data" to have confidence to cut their benchmark interest rate, currently at a two-decade high of 5.3%.

The Republicans' "big beautiful" budget package is aimed at ushering in "a new golden age in America" through a combination of tax and spending cuts, according to House Speaker Mike Johnson. But a new analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office finds that the bill may prove less golden for some Americans.