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Al Jazeera
an hour ago
- Al Jazeera
Consumer prices increase in July amid tariff driven economic uncertainty
Consumer prices in the United States held steady in July, as elevated inflation sweeps through the economy. The consumer price index report (CPI) rose 2.7 percent over this time last year and follows a 2.7 percent increase in June, according to the Department of Labor report released on Tuesday. On a monthly basis, prices increased by 0.2 percent in July compared to 0.3 percent in June. The data beat analyst expectations. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected a 2.8 percent increase on an annual basis. The cost of energy dropped by 1.1 percent over the last 12 months. Petrol, in particular, led the decline with a 2.3 percent decrease for the year. Grocery prices fell by 0.1 percent, but the cost of eating out of the house increased by 0.3 percent. Shelter costs increased by 0.2 percent. The cost of medical care services rose by 4.3 percent. Airline prices increased by 4 percent compared with this time last year. Increases and decreases 'Today's CPI report revealed that inflation beat market expectations once again and remains stable, underscoring President [Donald] Trump's commitment to lower costs for American families and businesses,' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to reporters. But a deeper look at the data tells a different story. Prices increased in areas heavily affected by tariffs, while they decreased in areas that are not affected by tariffs. 'We really are seeing a divergence in the inflation data right now between import-sensitive sectors and those that do not rely on imports,' Daniel Hornung, senior fellow at MIT and former deputy director of the National Economic Council, told Al Jazeera. Compared with this time last year, hotel prices fell by 1.3 percent and car rental prices tumbled by 2.9 percent as Americans have pulled back on discretionary travel spending. But products like tools and hardware prices ticked up 1.6 percent, car parts rose by 0.9 percent, and footwear surged 1.4 percent, all items that are imported and have to bear the levies. The latest data comes after Trump fired Erika McEntarfer, the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, amid recently revised jobs data showing far fewer jobs were created than originally reported. The president intends to replace her with EJ Antoni, an economist with the Heritage Foundation. He was a contributor to Project 2025, a far-right wishlist the conservative think tank put together. While on the campaign trail, Trump distanced himself from Project 2025, but he has since appointed authors of many of its chapters to several key roles in the federal government, including Brenden Carr, who now leads the Federal Communications Commission and Russell Vought to lead the Office of Management and Budget. A look ahead Hornung believes that the latest data shows the effect of tariffs and is expected to rise as rates increase on trading partners. 'The way that probably shows up in the data is not literally over one month, but a relatively steady increase over the course of several months,' Hornung said. 'It might last even longer because of the way that the tariffs are being put in place, where we're seeing in April one set of tariff announcements that take a few months to work their way through into consumer prices. Then again, in August, another set of increased incremental tariff rates that will work their way through the system over the course of the fall.' In the private sector, some of the US's largest businesses have announced a need to raise prices because of tariffs, including big box retailer Walmart, and Procter and Gamble, the world's largest consumer goods maker. Increased inflation and slowing job growth could lead to lower interest rates in September when the Federal Reserve is next set to meet, according to Hornung. On Wall Street, the markets are responding positively to the report, which showed the inflation rate increasing slightly less than expected. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 1.1 percent. The S&P 500 is trending upwards at 0.8 percent and the Nasdaq is also up 0.8 percent.
Al Jazeera
11 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Two dead, 10 injured in explosion at US steel plant in Pennsylvania
Multiple explosions at a US Steel plant near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania have killed two people and injured 10, according to the company and local authorities. The blasts at the Clairton Coke Works – part of a sprawling industrial complex along the Monongahela River – took place just before 11am Eastern Time (15:00 GMT) on Monday. Firefighters battled flames and heavy smoke that billowed out of the plant, which is owned by US Steel, a subsidiary of Nippon Steel. Initially, two people were reported missing. One person was found and transported to a local hospital, said Allegheny County Police Assistant Superintendent Victor Joseph at an afternoon briefing. There was no word yet on the possible cause of the explosion. The investigation into the explosion would be 'a time-consuming technical investigation', Joseph said. David Burritt, president and chief executive officer of US Steel, said in a statement that the company was working with local authorities to discover the cause. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro posted on X that there were multiple explosions at the plant and that his administration was in touch with local officials. 'The scene is still active, and folks nearby should follow the direction of local authorities,' he wrote at the time the employee was missing. The severity of the injuries was not known, but news accounts said several people were taken to hospital burn units. Steel sector in decline Clairton Mayor Rich Lattanzi said it was a horrible day for the city, about 32km (20 miles) south of Pittsburgh, long known as the US Steel City. US Steel has produced steel in the area since the late 19th century, but in recent decades, the industry has been in decline, leading to plant closures and restructurings. In June, Nippon Steel, Japan's biggest steelmaker, closed its $14.9bn acquisition of US Steel after an 18-month struggle to obtain United States government approval for the deal, which faced scrutiny due to national security concerns. While air quality monitors did not detect a dangerous rise in sulphur dioxide after Monday's explosions, residents within 1.6km (1 mile) of the plant were advised to remain indoors, close windows and doors, set HVAC systems to recirculate, and avoid activities that draw in outside air, said Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato at the briefing. The Clairton Coke Works is the largest coke manufacturing facility in the US, employing about 1,300 workers. It operates 10 coke oven batteries, which produce about 4.3 million tonnes of coke a year. Coke is produced by heating coal at high temperatures. It is used in blast furnaces as part of the process of making steel.
Qatar Tribune
20 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
Big tech's power needs strain grids, raise rates
Agencies Amid rising electric bills, states are under pressure to insulate regular household and business ratepayers from the costs of feeding Big Tech's energy-hungry data centers. It's not clear that any state has a solution and the actual effect of data centers on electricity bills is difficult to pin down. Some critics question whether states have the spine to take a hard line against tech behemoths like Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta. But more than a dozen states have begun taking steps as data centers drive a rapid build-out of power plants and transmission lines. That has meant pressuring the nation's biggest power grid operator to clamp down on price increases, studying the effect of data centers on electricity bills or pushing data center owners to pay a larger share of local transmission costs. Rising power bills are 'something legislators have been hearing a lot about. It's something we've been hearing a lot about. More people are speaking out at the public utility commission in the past year than I've ever seen before,' said Charlotte Shuff of the Oregon Citizens' Utility Board, a consumer advocacy group. 'There's a massive outcry.' Some data centers could require more electricity than cities the size of Pittsburgh, Cleveland or New Orleans, and make huge factories look tiny by comparison. That's pushing policymakers to rethink a system that, historically, has spread transmission costs among classes of consumers that are proportional to electricity use. 'A lot of this infrastructure, billions of dollars of it, is being built just for a few customers and a few facilities and these happen to be the wealthiest companies in the world,' said Ari Peskoe, who directs the Electricity Law Initiative at Harvard University. 'I think some of the fundamental assumptions behind all this just kind of breaks down.' A fix, Peskoe said, is a 'can of worms' that pits ratepayer classes against one another. Some officials downplay the role of data centers in pushing up electric bills. Tricia Pridemore, who sits on Georgia's Public Service Commission and is president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, pointed to an already tightened electricity supply and increasing costs for power lines, utility poles, transformers and generators as utilities replace aging equipment or harden it against extreme weather. The data centers needed to accommodate the artificial intelligence boom are still in the regulatory planning stages, Pridemore said, and the Data Center Coalition, which represents Big Tech firms and data center developers, has said its members are committed to paying their fair share. But growing evidence suggests that the electricity bills of some Americans are rising to subsidize the massive energy needs of Big Tech as the U.S. competes in a race against China for artificial intelligence superiority. Data and analytics firm Wood Mackenzie published a report in recent weeks that suggested 20 proposed or effective specialized rates for data centers in 16 states it studied aren't nearly enough to cover the cost of a new natural gas power plant.
