The Federal Reserve is facing a bumpy path to tame inflation, which risks staying elevated in coming months should the prices of goods, such as clothing and cars, continue to climb.

Falling gas prices seem to have enabled consumers to spend more as they kicked off the holiday shopping season.

Despite tepid growth, and even declines, in sectors such as retail, hiring in healthcare, leisure and hospitality, government, and manufacturing drove a gain in payrolls last month.

After months of relief, inflation statistics may look a bit higher this week, as the BLS is rolling out changes in how it tabulates health insurance costs, introducing a new methodology designed to smooth out volatility and reduce time lags.

Inflation is cooling, even as the job market remains resilient.

As inflation cools in the United States, it continues rising in Europe.

Inflation-adjusted spending was little changed in May and has essentially stalled since February, setting up the economy for a substantial slowdown.

Economists now expect the federal funds rate to peak at 5.25%, vs. the 5% they expected just last month.