Gasoline Pushes Inflation To Three Year High

[mystery-ak]

John Carney 25 Jun 2026

Higher gasoline prices pushed the Federal Reserve’s favored inflation index up in May at the fastest pace in three years, data from the Department of Commerce showed on Thursday.

The personal consumption expenditures price index climbed 4.1 percent last month from a year earlier, the largest year-over-year price increase since April 2023. Compared with the prior month, prices rose 0.4 percent.

Excluding food and energy, so-called core prices were up 3.4 percent from a year earlier. Core prices rose 0.3 percent from April.

Both the headline and core figures were in line with expectations.

Gasoline prices rose 6.5 percent in May. That followed a 5.5 percent increase in April and a 20.9 percent increase in March.

Durable goods prices were flat in May, anchored by falling prices for autos, household furniture, and appliances. Clothing and footwear prices were flat. Grocery prices rose just 0.1 percent.

Services prices climbed 0.5 percent. Transportation prices rose 0.8 percent, housing prices climbed 0.3 percent, and health care services rose 0.4 percent. Financial services and insurance prices rose 1.2 percent, largely reflecting gains in the stock market.

Despite the higher prices, consumer spending rose sharply. Household expenditures rose 0.7 percent from a month earlier, or 0.3 percent after adjusting for inflation. Personal incomes also rose 0.7 percent in May before inflation adjustment and 0.3 percent adjusted for higher prices.

In a separate report, the government said that the U.S. economy grew at an annualized 2.1 percent pace in the first quarter, a significant upgrade from the prior estimate of 1.6 percent. Economists had expected that estimate to remain unchanged.

https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2026/06/25/pce-prices-inflation-may/

[Wingnut]

It's "Transitory" .

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

The casino i work is absolutely rocking the numbers, on a sunday both floors are full. These aren't rich people here either.

[Wingnut]

The casino i work is absolutely rocking the numbers, on a sunday both floors are full. These aren't rich people here either.

I'm spending money like a drunken sailor. I'm not letting a silly little thing like "inflation" slow my roll.

[Luis Gonzalez]

If both major conflicts de-escalate, oil responds quickly.

Markets move on expectation first.

Crude could retreat into the $70–$80 range. Insurance costs would fall. Shipping lanes normalize. Refiners adjust buying behavior.

Gasoline wholesale prices would drop first. Retail follows later.

Within weeks, national averages could move into the mid-$3 range again.

By late summer, $3.50 to $3.75 nationally becomes realistic.

Miami would likely sit higher, closer to $3.70–$3.90.

That is not a return to 2020. It is a reset from crisis pricing back to structural pricing.

9. What That Means Going Into Election Season
Gasoline has always been political, not because people understand it deeply, but because they feel it every week.

When prices are high, it shows up immediately in household budgets.

When they fall, relief is just as immediate.

If prices are in the mid-$3 range by November 2026, it means the war premium has been removed, but the inflation baseline remains.

So voters will not be comparing $3.50 to $1.90.

They will be comparing $3.50 to $4.31.

That is the real frame that matters politically.

Link

I am paying $3.43/gl now.

Barrel prices dropped as well. West Texas Intermediate is at @ $71/bbl and Brent Crude @ $74/bbl.

[Hoodat]

John Carney 25 Jun 2026

Higher gasoline prices pushed the Federal Reserve’s favored inflation index up in May at the fastest pace in three years, data from the Department of Commerce showed on Thursday.

Remember back when Obama took office, and they decided to drop fuel prices from the cost of living index?

[Hoodat]

From an economics standpoint, there is but one and only one cause for inflation - expansion of the money supply.

With a fixed money supply, scarcity of gasoline will cause reduced demand of something else.  Thus, total money spent remains the same.  But when a government chooses to pump $2 trillion into the economy government year after year, the result of that is more dollars chasing fewer goods - the very definition of inflation.

You want inflation to stop?  Then you have but two choices:

1.  Balance the federal budget

2.  Continue to allow government to spend more than it has, but no longer allow the Fed to finance it by expanding the money supply.


Option 2 is doable, but you won't like the results.  Inflation goes away, but it is replaced with 20% interest rates.

[Luis Gonzalez]

From an economics standpoint, there is but one and only one cause for inflation - expansion of the money supply.

With a fixed money supply, scarcity of gasoline will cause reduced demand of something else.  Thus, total money spent remains the same.  But when a government chooses to pump $2 trillion into the economy government year after year, the result of that is more dollars chasing fewer goods - the very definition of inflation.

You want inflation to stop?  Then you have but two choices:

1.  Balance the federal budget

2.  Continue to allow government to spend more than it has, but no longer allow the Fed to finance it by expanding the money supply.


Option 2 is doable, but you won't like the results.  Inflation goes away, but it is replaced with 20% interest rates.

Well said.

[Bigun]

Inflation = theft of you accumulated wealth.