CPI Cools But War Keeps Fuel Costs High for Workers

The July consumer price index registered 3.4 percent annualized, marking the second consecutive month of cooler price pressures in line with economists' expectations. US consumer prices cooled slightly in July as the annualized inflation rate dipped down to 3.4% according to the latest data. This number routinely offers Social Security recipients an important clue about the size of next year's COLA Newsweek notes.

Energy is cheaper than at its peak in late April, but gas is still nearly $1 a gallon more expensive than before the Iran war the Guardian reports. Prices still remain higher than levels seen before the war the same report states. After five and one-half months, the United States is still at war with Iran AlterNet reports.

The war, which President Donald Trump insists is necessary to prevent Iran's Islamist regime from developing a nuclear weapon the report states, continues. But Trump's critics are countering that the war is making the regime even more radical the report notes. The administration's choice to sustain the conflict keeps fuel costs elevated, a tax on every commuter, every delivery driver, every household heating bill.

The cooling index offers a modest signal for next year's cost-of-living adjustment, but the war grinds on per AlterNet. Gasoline prices holding nearly a dollar above their pre-war baseline per the Guardian means the relief in the headline number does not reach the pump. Retirees watching the COLA forecast and workers filling tanks face the same reality: the index trends down while the war-driven premium persists.

Power operates in the gap between the statistic and the checkout line. The administration bets on military pressure abroad; the cost lands on fixed incomes and hourly wages at home. The CPI may ease, but the war economy keeps extracting.