Consumer prices rose 4.1% in May from a year earlier, the Commerce Department said Thursday<\/a>, the largest annual increase since April 2023. On a monthly basis, inflation was 0.4% last month, matching April\u2019s increase and down from 0.7% in March. <\/p>\n The increase was largely driven by more expensive gas, as well as pricier semiconductors and other computer equipment that are in high demand for the AI buildout.<\/p>\n Apple raises prices as demand for chips drives costs upward<\/p>\n Apple<\/a> announced an increase in prices for Macs and iPads, citing a memory chip shortage brought on by the artificial intelligence<\/a> boom. <\/p>\n The company called the demand spike an \u201cunprecedented challenge\u201d for the consumer electronics industry. <\/p>\n \u201cWe have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly,\u201d the company said in a written statement.<\/p>\n The new, entry-level MacBook Neo will now cost $699, up from $599. The 512 gigabyte MacBook Air now costs $1,299, up from $1,099. The one terabyte MacBook Pro is $1,999, up from $1,699. The 128 gigabyte iPad Air is now $749, up from $599, while the 256 gigabyte iPad Pro Wifi is now $1,199, up from $999.<\/p>\n US economy expanded at 2.1% pace in January-March<\/p>\n The U.S. economy<\/a> expanded at a solid and unexpected 2.1% annual pace from January through March, the Commerce Department reported Thursday in its final estimate of first-quarter growth.<\/p>\n The growth in gross domestic product \u2014 the nation\u2019s output of goods and services \u2014 marked a rebound from a sluggish 0.5% in the last three months of 2025 when a 43-day federal government shutdown weighed on the economy. Thursday\u2019s numbers were an upgrade from Commerce\u2019s previous first-quarter estimate of 1.6% growth.<\/p>\n Business investment surged, likely due to an investment boom in artificial intelligence<\/a>. But consumer spending<\/a>, which accounts for around 70% of U.S. economic activity, fell sharply from fourth-quarter 2025 and from Commerce\u2019s previous estimate in a sign that consumers may be cutting back in the face of higher gasoline prices caused by the war with Iran<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n An electronic billboard with an image of President Donald Trump reads \u201cI love the inflation.\u201d – Donald J. Trump June 10, 2026,\u201d is seen near I-74 in Cincinnati, Tuesday, June 16, 2026. (AP Photo\/Carolyn Kaster)<\/p>\n An electronic billboard with an image of President Donald Trump reads \u201cI love the inflation.\u201d – Donald J. Trump June 10, 2026,\u201d is seen near I-74 in Cincinnati, Tuesday, June 16, 2026. (AP Photo\/Carolyn Kaster)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n Sign up for Morning Wire: Average 30-year U.S. mortgage rate rises <\/p>\n The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate<\/a> edged higher this week, staying close to 6.5%, where it\u2019s been<\/a> the last six weeks.<\/p>\n The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate rose to 6.49% from 6.47% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. One year ago, the average rate was 6.77%.<\/p>\n When mortgage rates rise they can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, reducing their purchasing power.<\/p>\n Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, often sought by borrowers refinancing a home loan, also rose this week. That average rate ticked up to 5.84% from 5.81% last week. A year ago, it was at 5.89%, Freddie Mac said.<\/p>\n US jobless aid filings decline as layoffs remain low <\/p>\n Fewer Americans applied for jobless aid<\/a> last week as layoffs remain low despite economic headwinds that are creating uncertainty for businesses.<\/p>\n U.S. applications for unemployment benefits in the week ending June 20 fell by 12,000 to 215,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That\u2019s fewer than the 225,000 new applications forecast by analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet.<\/p>\n Weekly filings for unemployment benefits are considered representative of U.S. layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Specialist Patrick King, left, and trader Mark Puetzer work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo\/Richard Drew)<\/p>\n Specialist Patrick King, left, and trader Mark Puetzer work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo\/Richard Drew)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n Wall Street ends on a positive note in a down week<\/p>\n US markets rose on the final day of trading during the week after oil prices eased back to where they were before the war with Iran<\/a>, but drops for AI stocks kept the market in check. <\/p>\n The S&P 500 had its second losing week in the last 13, largely because of a retreat<\/a> in the tech sector, particularly artificial-intelligence<\/a> companies and related technology.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The economy, inflation and how those forces could impact the lives of Americans were front and center over…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":765524,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[1572,276,45,49,48,1376,10423,5143,46,16800,10425,2561,135,11313,5897,17786,82252,217775,27758,61,51794],"class_list":["post-765523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-apple","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-donald-trump","tag-economic-indicators","tag-economic-policy","tag-economy","tag-energy-markets","tag-federal-reserve-system","tag-inc","tag-inflation","tag-information-technology","tag-iran","tag-laptops","tag-mortgages","tag-oil-and-gas-industry","tag-semiconductor-manufacturing","tag-technology","tag-u-s-department-of-commerce"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=765523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765523\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/765524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=765523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=765523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=765523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1782596474_893_.jpeg\")
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