WASHINGTON (AP) — Prices for U.S. consumers rose last month but at the slowest pace since February, a sign that Americans could gain some relief after four months of sharp increases that elevated inflation to its fastest pace in more than a decade.
Wednesday’s report from the Labor Department showed that consumer prices rose 0.5% from June to July, slower than the previous monthly increase of 0.9%. They have jumped 5.4% compared with a year earlier.
Excluding volatile oil and gas prices, so-called core inflation rose 4.3% in the past year, down from 4.5% in June, which was the fastest 12-month pace since 1991.
