{"id":339750,"date":"2026-07-14T16:27:56","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T16:27:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/339750\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T16:27:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T16:27:56","slug":"inflation-slows-to-3-5-as-energy-prices-reverse-course","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/339750\/","title":{"rendered":"Inflation slows to 3.5% as energy prices reverse course"},"content":{"rendered":"

U.S. consumer<\/a> prices fell 0.4% in June, the largest monthly decline since April 2020, as a sharp drop in gasoline prices drove energy costs lower.<\/p>\n

The Consumer Price Index increased 3.5% from a year earlier, down from 4.2% in May, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Core inflation, which excludes food<\/a> and energy, was unchanged during the month and rose 2.6% from a year earlier, down from 2.9% in May.<\/p>\n

Energy prices fell 5.7% nationally in June after rising for three consecutive months. Gasoline prices dropped 9.7%, accounting for much of the decline in the overall index. Despite the monthly pullback, gasoline prices remained 26.7% higher than a year earlier, while the overall energy index was up 15.7%.<\/p>\n

Food prices increased 0.2% nationally during June, with grocery and restaurant prices each rising at the same rate. Shelter costs rose 0.1%, the smallest monthly increase since January 2021.<\/p>\n

Read the latest Tampa business news and updates<\/a><\/p>\n

Several other consumer costs also declined during the month. The medical care index fell 0.1%, motor vehicle insurance prices dropped 2%, apparel prices declined 0.6%, used car and truck prices fell 0.2% and transportation services decreased 0.3%. Recreation prices increased 0.5%, while personal care and household furnishings and operations each rose 0.2%.<\/p>\n

The most recent local data, covering May, show inflation in the Tampa-St. Petersburg<\/a>–Clearwater<\/a> metro remained below the national rate at that time. Consumer prices in the region rose 3.2% over the 12 months ending in May, while core inflation increased 2.8%.<\/p>\n

The energy index rose 13.1% over the year, including a 41% increase in gasoline prices. Food prices increased 1.4%, while shelter costs rose 2.1%. Grocery prices declined 0.5% over the year, while restaurant prices increased 4.2%.<\/p>\n

The inflation report comes as Tampa\u2019s labor market remains relatively stable. The metro area had 1.56 million nonfarm jobs in May, essentially unchanged from a year earlier. Education<\/a> and health services added 4,200 jobs over the year, while trade, transportation and utilities lost 2,800 jobs. <\/p>\n

Financial activities lost 1,500 jobs, information lost 1,100 jobs and government employment declined by 1,100. The area\u2019s unemployment rate was 4.5% in May, up from 3.6% a year earlier.<\/p>\n

Read More Tampa Bay Business News<\/p>\n

\n Explore the latest Tampa Bay business<\/a> news, real estate<\/a> deals, development projects, executive moves and company updates shaping the region.\n <\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"U.S. consumer prices fell 0.4% in June, the largest monthly decline since April 2020, as a sharp drop…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32025,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-339750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=339750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=339750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=339750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}