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.
A key inflation gauge that is monitored closely by the Federal Reserve accelerated in April to the highest level in three years, squeezing Americans’ finances and creating political challenges for President Trump and congressional Republicans with midterm elections just five months away.
Inflation jumped to 3.8% in April compared with a year ago, the Commerce Department said Thursday, up from 3.5% in March and the highest since May 2023. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.4%, down from the 0.7% jump in March but still higher than the inflation-fighters at the Federal Reserve would prefer.
Thursday’s inflation report also showed that in addition to gasoline, prices for groceries, clothing and electricity are also on the rise, suggesting that inflation may be growing more entrenched.
U.S. consumer confidence declined slightly this month as gas prices stayed high and inflation remained elevated, a sharp contrast to soaring stock prices that have neared record levels.
The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index slipped 0.7 points to 93.1 in May, the first decline after three months of gains.
The index follows a separate gauge of consumer sentiment released last week by the University of Michigan, which fell to a record low this month. Spikes in gas prices as well as higher food costs have worsened inflation, which has outpaced the growth in average paychecks, reducing most Americans’ purchasing power. Americans have soured on President Trump’s economic policies, polls show, potentially creating problems for Republicans heading into the midterm elections.
The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate rose again this week, reaching its highest level in nine months, another setback for prospective homebuyers.
The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate rose to 6.53% from 6.51% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. Despite the latest increase, the average rate remains below 6.89%, where it was a year ago.
When mortgage rates rise they can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, reducing their purchasing power.
Rates have been mostly trending higher since the war with Iran began, disrupting the passage of tankers ferrying crude oil from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide. That’s sent oil prices sharply higher — a key driver of inflation.
More Americans sought unemployment benefits last week, but layoffs remain low despite economic uncertainty caused by the Iran war.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claims were up to 215,000, up from 210,000 the week before. The four-week moving average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, rose by nearly 6,300 to 209,000.
The number of Americans signing up for unemployment benefits — a proxy for layoffs — has stabilized in a low range of mostly 200,000 to 250,000 a week since the U.S. economy emerged from a brief but nasty pandemic recession in 2020.
The total number of people collecting jobless aid rose by 15,000 to 1.79 million the week that ended May 16.
The persistently low number of claims suggests that most U.S. companies have not resorted to layoffs. But even if they’re not cutting jobs, employers haven’t been adding many either. Last year, companies, nonprofits and government agencies added fewer than 10,000 jobs a month, the weakest hiring outside recession years since 2002.
Stocks rose on Wall Street Friday, adding to the all-time highs they set a day earlier.
The S&P 500 climbed slightly. The index is coming off six gains in a row and is headed for a ninth straight winning week, which would be the longest such streak since 2023.
Every major index is on track for records and to close out May with solid gains, despite worries about the U.S. war with Iran and its impact on inflation.
Markets in Europe and Asia mostly rose.
Trader Edward Curran, left, and specialist Meric Greenbaum, center, work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
LEGE-CAP FERRET, France (AP) — A wildfire covering an area four times the size of Paris remained uncontained in southwest France on Wednesday as temperatures were forecast to reach 40 C (104 F), threatening to erase firefighters’ overnight gains.
Authorities in the Gironde region said the blaze had not spread further during a calm night, but warned that forecast heat and winds could cause the flames to surge again.
At the command center in Lège, firefighters bent over maps spread across a car hood as commanders tracked three danger zones: northern Cap-Ferret, the wooded corridor around Marcheprime, Cestas and Saint-Jean-d’Illac, and a military site near Martignas, where a significant new outbreak required a major deployment.
More than 2,200 firefighters and over 20 aircraft remain mobilized, supported by crews from across France and European partners.
“We strike quickly and strike hard at any new smoke emissions,” Gironde fire commander Matthieu Jomain said.
The fire forced 220,000 people to flee at its peak. Tens of thousands have since been allowed home, but authorities warned that the danger had not yet passed.
The extreme heat strips moisture from vegetation and drives humidity down, turning grasses, brush and forest litter into faster-burning fuel. Winds can lift embers over firebreaks and ignite new fronts beyond the reach of crews.
Météo-France, the national meteorological service, said Wednesday would be the hottest and driest day of the week, with elevated wildfire danger across every region of the country.
Drought now covers mainland France and Corsica, with soils approaching the record dryness reached in August 2022, the agency said.
In other regions, firefighters have secured two major victories. In Landes and Var fires were fixed, meaning their advance had been halted. That left Gironde as France’s biggest remaining wildfire battle, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said.
Smoke from the Gironde and Landes fires also triggered an ongoing particulate-pollution episode in both departments, regional air-quality monitors said.
The Gironde authorities ordered 4,000 more people out of tourist sites along the Atlantic coast on Tuesday, widening what may be France’s largest peacetime evacuation.
“The situation remains complicated. That’s clear. We’re not out of the woods,” said Gironde prefect Sophie Brocas, who also authorized 60,000 evacuees to return to three Bordeaux suburbs untouched by fire.
The opposing movements — thousands ordered out of coastal resorts as others returned with mobile phones on and emergency bags packed — captured how precarious the fire’s hold remained.
At the height of the evacuations, roughly 330,000 people were driven from homes and vacation sites across France and Spain.
Spain is braced for its fourth heat wave of the summer, with several blazes still out of control, including the largest in its recorded history. Even so, Spanish authorities began lifting evacuation and stay-at-home orders for thousands of people after firefighters made progress.
At its height, the Gironde blaze created a black thundercloud, electrified and lit from within. It generated lightning, strong winds and new fires beyond the original front. The phenomenon, known as a pyrocumulonimbus, was the first recorded in France.
More than 1,160 square kilometers (448 square miles) have burned across France this year, according to the Interior Ministry.
Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, warming at more than twice the global average, according to the European Union’s Copernicus climate service. Western Europe recorded its hottest June on record, with extreme heat and widespread dryness contributing to the spread and intensification of fires in France and Spain, Copernicus said.
Adamson reported from Paris.
A car burned by a wildfire sits in Piedralaves, Ávila province, Spain, as the fire continues to spread, Tuesday, July 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Firefighters use controlled burning to halt a wildfire that continues to spread near Cebreros, Ávila province, Spain, Tuesday, July 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Firefighters battle a blaze outside Lanton, during wildfires in southwestern France, Tuesday, July 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
A De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 drops fire retardant over a forest near Saint-Jean-d'Illac, during wildfires in southwestern France, Tuesday, July 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
Firefighters battle a blaze outside Lanton, during wildfires in southwestern France, Tuesday, July 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
