The economy, inflation and how those forces could impact the lives of Americans were front and center over the past week. Trips to the grocery store or gas station are more painful than they were last year, and rising costs are impacting the decisions of both households and businesses.Here’s a snapshot of prominent economic data and news that occurred over the past week and what it potentially means for you.Elon Musk becomes the world’s first trillionaireThe world’s richest man has become its first trillionaire.Shares in Elon Musk’s rocket company SpaceX soared 25% after opening for trading Friday, an auspicious start for history’s biggest initial public offering and enough to push the net worth of its founder and CEO over the trillion dollar mark.That price gave the company a market value of $2.21 trillion. Musk, who also is a major shareholder and CEO of Tesla, is now worth an estimated $1.1 trillion, according to Forbes.
Inflation hits 3-year highRising gas prices pushed inflation to its highest level in three years last month, a headache for the Federal Reserve and a potential political challenge for the Trump administration as midterm elections near. Consumer prices rose 4.2% in May from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Wednesday, up from 3.8% in April and the third straight increase. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.5% last month, after big gains of 0.6% in April and 0.9% in March. Outside energy costs, price increases were not as dramatic, a sign that inflation hasn’t yet spread throughout the economy. Should the Iran war end and oil and gas prices decline, headline inflation could begin to cool. Gas prices have fallen this month.
