The United States has reduced interest rates under the belief that inflation has eased, but many residents in the country continue to find themselves at odds as prices of some goods remain at high levels.
In recent years, the U.S. Federal Reserve has raised interest rates aggressively to drive down upward price spirals driven by pent-up demand after the pandemic.
Consequently, some prices have decreased. Used vehicle prices, often an early inflation indicator, have fallen by almost 11 percent. Smartphone prices have also seen a decline, albeit more modestly. Additionally, the price of apples dropped by over 14 percent in the last year.
However, inflation has had a lasting impact on certain sectors of the economy. In July, the cost of eggs was approximately one-fifth higher than a year earlier. Motor vehicle insurance saw a similar increase, while streaming subscriptions prices surged by over eight percent.
TV and movie streaming service Disney+ raised its monthly ad-free subscription by 27 percent last year and plans another increase of over 14 percent in October.
Faced with the current economic situation, many U.S. residents have changed their spending habits.
"I am cutting those streaming services. Those extra streaming services are the first thing I'm cutting for the most part," said a resident in Maryland.
"I'm not buying much clothes," said another resident.
"Things that I normally would buy, maybe I didn't buy. I mean, like, bacon, when I saw the prices going up that did kind of change a little bit. But I just stopped and started eating properly," said a Maryland resident.
Fed perceives cooling inflation, yet many grapple with high prices
Fed perceives cooling inflation, yet many grapple with high prices
Air raid sirens sounded repeatedly across Tel Aviv on Saturday as Iran launched missile attacks at Israel, forcing residents to seek cover in underground spaces.
Earlier in the day, the United States and Israel launched "major combat operations" against Iran, prompting retaliation from Iran and plunging the war-torn Middle East into a new round of violence.
"It's 10:30 local time, 8:30 GMT. And you can hear sirens sounding in Tel Aviv, the first sirens for months here. We heard sirens in northern communities before. Now we're hearing sirens here in Tel Aviv. As I'm doing this, I'll be approaching the shelters. People behind me, you can see rushing to shelters, not in a very quick way, but people are not remaining in the streets," said Jonathan Regev, a reporter with China Global Television Network (CGTN).
Regev visited an underground parking lot that has been repurposed as a bunker, accommodating dozens of people after early warnings were issued.
"So for the 5th, or 6th time maybe -- it's hard to keep track -- sirens are sounding in Tel Aviv today. And here you can see behind me. As soon as the sirens are sounding, people are rushing to this place. It's not even an official shelter, but rather an underground parking lot and underground compound. You can see people. They are rushing right behind. More and more people are coming," Regev said.
Despite multiple sirens, there was no visible panic as residents followed instructions to remain under cover until the all-clear signal was given.
"I have to say, no real panic. People may be even finding solutions for a longer stay. And this is the situation here today. It will probably be the situation for quite some time to come. The instruction now is that people have to wait here at least for another 10 minutes or so until the all-clear siren comes from the home front command. This is just one example of the underground parking lot in the city of Tel Aviv. Tens such places exist in the city and in many other cities as well," Regev said.
Tel Aviv residents take shelter as sirens sound repeatedly across city
