The Daily Money

ALL THE MONEY NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW

Fri Jun 30 2023

Charisse Jones | Economic Opportunity Reporter

And so it begins. It's Friday, the unofficial start of a long holiday weekend, and I'm Charisse Jones with your Daily Money headlines.

Air travel has been plagued by delays and cancellations this week, making driving look a lot more appealing. And a road trip may be even sweeter now that gas is more than a dollar cheaper than it was a year ago, and less expensive than even last week.

As of midday Thursday, the average price nationally for a gallon of unleaded gas – roughly $3.52 – had dropped about six cents from the same time a week ago, according to GasBuddy, an app that gauges gas prices in real time . An average gallon was also 3 or 4 cents cheaper than last month.

On average, prices at the pump are forecast to be about $1.30 per gallon less on July 4 than they were on the last holiday when gas prices had reached record highs in prior weeks, according to GasBuddy's head of petroleum analysis Patrick De Haan. Earlier this week, he projected that on July 4, the national average for a gallon of unleaded would be $3.49.

"We could continue to see that national average slowly slipping," De Haan told USA TODAY. But, he said, "it may stall out just shy of the $3.49 mark because the price of oil and the wholesale price of gasoline did take a big bounce" Wednesday.

Person pumping gas into car.

Getty Images

Supreme Court rejects student loan debt relief

The Supreme Court killed President Joe Biden's proposal to cancel student loan debt for 26 million Americans with a decision issued Friday. The ruling strikes down a plan meant to give financial relief to many Americans who advocates say have often been unable to more forward financially because of that debt burden.

In a 6-3 decision, the majority said the Biden administration exceeded its power in its bid to forgive $400 billion in student loans. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority decision.

Inflation slows but core price gains remain high

The outlook on inflation remains mixed.

A key gauge used by the Federal Reserve to measure inflation slowed in May, but an underlying index that takes account of price gains stayed high.

Consumer prices , rose 3.8% last month as compared to last May, slower than the 4.3% pace in April and the four-decade peak of 7% seen last June, the Commerce Department said Friday. That's the smallest annual uptick since April 2021, largely due to plunging energy prices.

However, on a monthly basis, prices experienced a 0.1% bump following a 0.4% increase the previous month, according to the personal consumption expenditures price (PCE) index..

Energy prices, including gasoline, dropped 3.9% while food prices rose slightly, by 0.1%.

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🍔 Today's Menu 🍔

It's baaaack. The great Sriracha shortage which made it hard to find that rich, peppery sauce last year has returned as one of its biggest manufacturers says the condiment continues to be in short supply.

Huy Fong Foods , the California-based company which makes the most recognized brand of Sriracha in the U.S., said last year that it looked forward to a stronger harvest in the fall. But the output didn't turn out to be enough. In a statement, the company said "Unfortunately, we are still experiencing a shortage of raw material. Although some production did resume this past fall season, we continue to have a limited supply that continues to affect our production. At this time, we have no estimations of when supply will increase."

And speaking of red sauces: does ketchup belong in the refrigerator? Ketchup manufacturer Heinz says, yep.

Heinz made its opinion known via tweet: "FYI: Ketchup. goes. in. the. Fridge!" It then surveyed the public to see what others thought, and as of Thursday morning, almost 60% of those polled said they make sure the condiment stays chilled.

A vigorous discussion on social media ensued, with some questioning why restaurants seem to not refrigerate their bottles while others noted ketchup packages typically say to stash it in the fridge after opening.

So, what do you think?

Each weekday, The Daily Money delivers the best consumer news from USA TODAY. We break down financial news and provide the TLDR version: how decisions by the Federal Reserve, government and companies imp