Yahoo Finance For First Time in 2 Years, Prices Are Dropping as Inflation Slows: 'We Are Turning the Corner,' Says Expert
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Inflation decreased in July thanks to a drop in rising gas prices around the country, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Wednesday.
In a report, the organization said gas prices fell 7.7 percent from June last month and helped to offset increased prices in food and shelter. Thanks to falling gas prices, overall inflation did not rise in July, marking the first time that's happened in two years, according to Politico.
"We are turning the corner on inflation," Mark Zandi, Moody's Analytics Chief Economist, told the outlet.
The news gave policymakers added hope that inflation, and fears of a recession, could be mitigated.
"Inflation is slowing down and gas prices are falling," U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren tweeted on Wednesday morning. "We're moving in the right direction."
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"And the Inflation Reduction Act will keep bringing down costs for working families," she added, referencing a spending bill meant to invest in health care and climate issues.
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While the Bureau of Labor Statistics said the overall consumer price index rose 8.5 percent from 2021, it is a decrease from 9.1 percent in June.
"We're seeing some signs that inflation may be beginning to moderate," Biden said on Wednesday, per Reuters. "People were still hurting, but zero inflation last month."
While speaking to PEOPLE after the report was published, financial expert Suze Orman mentioned that despite the news of the cost of gas falling, prices for both food and shelter increased.
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"Realistically speaking for the average American, it's still a serious blow to them," she tells PEOPLE. "Now, is it going the right way? Obviously, it's going the right way. But that doesn't mean that it's still not hard for them."
Additionally, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced the rent index rose 0.7 percent in July, with the equivalent index for owners rising 0.6 percent.
"The main problem still, for many people in the United States, is their rent is too high," Orman — host of the Women & Money podcast — added. "They've been priced out of the housing market because prices of homes are still too high."
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Orman recommends consumers hold off on buying cars right now, "especially used cars," she tells PEOPLE. She also warns against thinking that the stock market will go "straight up from here."
"I just think everybody should slow down a little bit," she explains. "I don't think people should be taking all of their money and putting it into the market."
"I think you need to maintain a very consistent investment strategy, which is dollar cost averaging," she added. "I think if you put things on your credit cards and you cannot pay your credit cards off in full at the end of the month, that is a warning sign for you."
