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(NEW YORK) — A hotter-than-expected inflation report this week pummeled the stock market and punctured hopes of relief for strained households.

New government data showed that prices rose slightly in August, worsening the cost woes for consumers as the Federal Reserve readies to decide on another interest rate hike next week.

While prices are rising in nearly every sector, some products have experienced more significant price spikes than others.

At the grocery store, for instance, price leaps vary considerably. The price of eggs is up nearly 40% from where it stood last August; while the price for margarine trails close behind, having jumped 38% over that time, according to the consumer price index released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The price of pork chops, however, rose little more than 5% since last August; and the price of tomatoes even inched downward over that period.

“We’re getting to a point where a lot of things are coming back into balance now,” Omar Sharif, founder and president of research firm Inflation Insights, told ABC News.

Still, many prices continue to climb sharply, since businesses face a host of heightened costs tied to supply chain disruptions, labor shortages and distribution costs, he said.

“We haven’t been in a situation in a long time where the entire cost structure of operating your business has gone up at the same time,” Sharif said. “Given the inflationary environment, it’s a lot easier to pass these costs along to your consumers.”

Here’s what you need to know about which prices are going up the most and why:

Airfare and travel-related expenses

Those who took a flight over the summer know that airfare prices have skyrocketed. Airline fares have jumped 33% since last August, which far outpaces the overall year-over-year inflation rate of 8.3%.

The steep increase in prices owes to the release of pent up demand from the pandemic, when people across the globe isolated in their homes and forwent travel. That leap in demand has collided with a shrunken supply, Sharif said, noting a pilot shortage this year that has reduced the flight capacity of airlines to roughly 80%.

“Post-omicron bookings this year have skyrocketed,” he said. “It’s one thing if you don’t have enough baggage handlers. It’s another if you don’t have enough pilots.”

Travelers have received some small relief, however. Between July and August, the pace of prices for airfare actually fell by about 4.5%.

Still, other prices in transportation and transportation-related goods have risen sharply over the past year. The cost of public transportation is up more than 20% since last August; and the price of tires over that time rose nearly 14%.

Gas and diesel fuel

Energy price hikes continue to dramatically outpace the overall inflation rate. The CPI’s energy index, a general measure of energy prices, rose almost 24% since last August.

Despite a sustained drop in gas prices over recent months, the cost of gas remains about 25% higher than it was a year ago.

The cost at the pump for diesel fuel has worsened even further over the last year. A category of prices called “other motor fuels” — which includes diesel and alternatives like ethanol — skyrocketed 53% since last August.

Diesel prices are especially important because they push prices upward in industries across the economy that rely on diesel trucks for the distribution of their products, said Sharif.

“It’s costly to move stuff across the country,” he said.

Gas prices have fallen in recent months amid a drop in demand from the summer peak and a decline in crude oil prices.

But the price of gas remains elevated due in part to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which prompted a widespread industry exit from Russia that has pushed millions of barrels of oil off the market.

Meanwhile, a longstanding oil supply shortage endures from a pandemic-induced production slowdown that hasn’t caught up with the bounce back in demand as people have returned to many of their pre-pandemic activities.

Eggs, flour and coffee

It doesn’t take a sleuth at the grocery store to find sky-high prices. But some sticker shocks delivers a stronger blow than others.

As mentioned, the prices of eggs and margarine have risen dramatically. The costs of other breakfast items have also spiked. The price of roasted coffee is up almost 19% over a year prior; while the price of milk has jumped 17% over that time.

The price of flour, meanwhile, has leapt a staggering 23% since last August, sending prices up for desserts and other baked goods.

The cost increases don’t stop at products meant to be consumed by human beings. The price of pet food has gone up 13% since a year ago.

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(LONDON) — The death of Queen Elizabeth II, who ruled for seven decades, has brought about a moment of transition for the British monarchy. And that also applies to the monarchy’s finances.

King Charles III, her son, ascended to the throne but likely will not be officially crowned for months. Currency in Britain and Commonwealth countries worldwide still features Elizabeth, and it remains unclear when Charles will appear on money.

For now, the royal family joins Britain in a national mourning period until Sept. 19, the day her funeral takes place.

Questions have already surfaced, however, about the inheritance of Elizabeth’s personal wealth, which totals in the hundreds of millions of dollars; as well as the fate of the British monarchy’s fortune, which stands in the tens of billions, according to Fortune.

The succession marks a transition period for the royal family’s assets, which include a vast set of valuable properties across Britain. Those assets yield annual profit to the British government and the royal family, but some Britons have questioned whether the financial arrangement ultimately benefits Britain, especially as it faces economic difficulty amid sky-high inflation.

Further interest focuses on the outlook for the powerful brand affiliated with the royal family, which draws tourists to Britain from around the world and appears on merchandise emblazoned with the royal coat of arms.

Here’s what you need to know about the British monarchy’s finances:

What was Elizabeth’s net worth and what happens to it now?

The net worth of Elizabeth — not including the wealth of the monarchy as a whole — stands in the hundreds of millions but the exact figure remains shrouded in mystery, since the House of Windsor does not release information on her total assets.

Fortune estimates Elizabeth’s net worth at $500 million. While expert David McClure, in his 2020 book The Queen’s True Worth, pegged her assets at $468 million.

Elizabeth derived her personal wealth from expensive goods like jewelry and art, as well as investment holdings and real estate. Her portfolio of privately held real estate included Balmoral Castle in Scotland and Sandringham House in England.

Charles is expected to inherit much of Queen Elizabeth’s personal wealth, though some of her fortune is tied up with monarchy holdings and could follow a more complicated path of inheritance.

How much wealth does the royal family have and where does it come from?

The wealth of the royal family, also known as “The Firm,” stands at an estimated $28 billion, according to Fortune.

The largest source of wealth for the royal family is the Crown Estate — a large portfolio of assets valued at $19.2 billion, according to a report from the Crown Estate. The Crown Estate includes more than 191,000 acres of rural land, including the famed Windsor Castle; as well as retail and leisure businesses and high-end London properties.

The royal family owns the Crown Estate in name only, however, since it falls under the control of the British government. The government, in turn, provides 25% of the profit the Crown Estate generates to the royal family from the national treasury in what’s called the “Sovereign Grant,” which essentially amounts to a subsidy from taxpayers. Last year, the grant totaled $99.4 million, a financial report from the Crown Estate showed.

Another major source of wealth for the royal family is The Duchy of Cornwall, a vast property valued at $1.2 billion. The estate, established in 1337 and made up of land across Britain, traditionally gets passed down to the heir to the throne upon succession, so it will transfer from Charles to his eldest son, William.

The Duchy of Lancaster, another centuries-old estate, is valued at $942.05 million. The profits from this estate go to the reigning monarch.

Additional wealth associated with the royal family centers on its brand, which generates $2.03 billion in economic activity for Britain each year by drawing global tourists, enhancing the value of merchandise emblazoned with a Royal Warrant or a Coat of Arms and adding to the appeal of television shows about the monarchy, according to a 2017 examination conducted by public relations research firm BrandFinance.

Does the British royal family pay taxes?

The British royal family pays some taxes but avoids others levied on wealthy families in Britain.

For instance, Charles will not pay inheritance taxes on the hundreds of millions in assets he will likely receive from Elizabeth. However, for others in Britain, any inheritance valued over $380,000 is slapped with a 40% tax.

Similarly, the royal family does not have a legal obligation to pay the country’s capital gains tax or income tax, according to a “Memorandum of Understanding on Royal Taxation” published by the government in 2013.

Charles, however, has voluntarily paid a 45% income tax on money he has taken in from the Duchy of Cornwall.

Other taxes paid by the royal family include capital gains and income taxes incurred by Elizabeth and Charles from their personal wealth. For decades, the two most powerful figures in the royal family have also paid such taxes on income from royal assets when those were not used in an official capacity.

Some members of the British public question whether the royal family should be allowed to forgo some taxes. The frustration, they argue, is particularly pronounced at a time of economic difficulty for the United Kingdom, when inflation stands at an elevated rate of 9.9%.

“It’s hard to justify that, especially when so many people are struggling,” a resident of Britain told ABC News’ Good Morning America on Wednesday.

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(NEW YORK) — American railway companies and unions have reached a tentative labor agreement amid the threat of strikes.

U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh announced the news on Twitter early Thursday, saying the deal “balances the needs of workers, businesses, and our nation’s economy.”

Story developing…

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(WASHINGTON) — Americans may be getting some relief at the gas pump, but they are not finding that relief at the grocery store.

Gasoline prices nationwide are down 10.6% from their record high of $5 a gallon in June. According to the American Automobile Association, the national average is now $3.70 for a gallon of regular, but food prices continue to soar.

The August Consumer Price Index found inflation rose 8.3%, down slightly from July’s reading of 8.5%, but still near a 40-year high. Those falling gas prices were more than offset by higher prices for rent, food, healthcare, and electricity.

The Federal Reserve’s series of interest rate hikes designed to beat back high inflation has had little impact on food prices. Economists say that is because a number of factors influence the cost of food, including the geopolitical landscape and weather.

The war in Ukraine has sent prices of wheat and other commodities higher while severe floods and droughts in parts of the U.S. have impacted crops and food supply. An outbreak of the avian bird flu is also wreaking havoc on the U.S. chicken and turkey population, triggering a spike in egg prices and analysts are already warning that turkey for this year’s Thanksgiving dinner will be the most expensive yet.

Unlike discretionary spending on things like clothing and entertainment, demand for food is not flexible, and consumers are feeling the pinch down nearly every aisle of the supermarket. Overall, the cost of food is up 11.4% in the past year, that’s the highest annual increase in 23 years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Prices for groceries shot up 13.5% over the past year, while eating out is 8% more expensive, as restaurants hike prices to pay for their own rising food costs.

Sticker shock has hit some items worse than others. The price of eggs is up 39.8%, milk prices have risen 17%, while bread is up 16.2% from a year ago, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Fruits and vegetables combined cost 9.4% more than they did a year ago, while meat is up 6.7% and chicken costs 16.6% more.

Fresh data shows skyrocketing food prices are starting to change consumer’s buying habits at the supermarket. Sales of frozen dinners and entrees fell 11.4% in August, while sales of cookies fell 8.9% and sales of frozen juices and drinks slid 8%, according to the data analytics and research firm IRi.

Experts say there are strategies you can implement to help you make money-saving decisions on your next trip to the grocery store.

First, plan your meals for the week and take inventory of your refrigerator and pantry so you know exactly what you need. Once you know what you need, make a list and stick to it. Experts say going to the grocery store without a plan leaves you open to impulse purchases, which could lead to poor money decisions.

Avoid those pricier pre-packaged lunches and dinners, as well as pre-cut vegetables and fruits. They may be a time-saver, but experts agree the higher cost for convenience can quickly drain your wallet. Whenever possible, buy store-brand products. They are nearly always cheaper than name brands, and in many cases, you won’t be sacrificing quality. According to Consumer Reports, 22% of shoppers choose which supermarkets to shop at based partly on the quality of their store brands.

You can also clip digital or paper coupons and join your store’s loyalty program where you can start taking advantage of store discounts immediately.

Perhaps the number one money-saving tip – never food shop when you’re hungry. It’s sure to be a budget buster.

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(NEW YORK) — As freight railroads and their unions continue to feel pressure from the White House, businesses and other stakeholders to reach an agreement before a potential strike, economic experts say the possible work stoppage will wreak havoc on businesses and consumers.

Two labor unions representing 57,000 engineers and conductors, who make up roughly half of all rail workers, are seeking a better time-off policy and contend that rail companies are trying to force a deal without meeting their requests. The National Carriers’ Conference Committee, which represents the nation’s freight railroads in national collective bargaining, said the rail companies offered a fair contract that includes a significant wage increase.

ABC News Live spoke with Abe Eshkenazi, the CEO of the Association for Supply Chain Management, or ASCM, about the potential ramifications of a strike on all aspects of the economy.

ABC NEWS LIVE: How vital are our railroad tracks to our supply chain?

ABE ESHKENAZI: Well, you’re talking about the most vital activities within logistics and transportation. By any measure, 30 to 40% of our goods are moved by rail. So we’re talking about a significant amount of movement of goods and services from raw materials to finished goods. In almost every aspect, the supply chain relies on the rails from the ports to our consumers, and the warehouses. This is a vital link in our logistics and warehousing system.

ABC NEWS LIVE: President Biden was briefed on the situation this morning. What do the railroad workers want in this case and can this strike be averted?

ESHKENAZI: I think the hope from every perspective is that we are able to reach an agreement. I think there has been some discussion about some legislative action, if it is not if we don’t see an agreement. I think the impact that it’s having [is] on the workers. There are significant issues that they have not only in terms of their hours of work, [and] away from all of their work conditions. There obviously are a number of issues that need to be addressed, but the criticality of the logistics and the rail system can’t be underestimated if we do have a work stoppage or any disruption.

ABC NEWS LIVE: Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh cut his Europe trip short to try and stave off this strike. What’s the worst-case scenario for our supply chain if this does go forward?

ESHKENAZI: Well, you’re talking significant detrimental effects. We’re already facing a number of shortages. We’ve got congestion at the ports. You’ve got trucking issues. We have warehouse capacity issues. Our demand and our supply are not balanced right now. So having a rail disruption is going to impact everything from the raw materials to the manufacturing and obviously to the consumer and the availability of goods down the stream here. This is a global supply chain. Any disruption, as we’ve seen in the past, is going to have a collateral effect. Whether we’re talking about weather-related issues or the conflict in Ukraine. We’re seeing collateral impact from these disruptions on almost every aspect of the supply chain. We’re seeing it in inflationary cost as well as labor issues, trying to find workers as well.

ABC NEWS LIVE: Amtrak has already canceled some long distance routes and companies have moved to suspend hazardous shipments in case they get stranded mid-route. Is our supply chain going to take a hit now regardless of whether or not there’s actually a strike?

ESHKENAZI: Well, we’re already seeing companies take some action and mitigate risk. There is a challenge that supply chain professionals need to address. And that’s a force coming, disruption from the rails so that, unfortunately, there are very few alternatives to the rail volume and the costs that are associated with it. So there really aren’t a whole lot of alternative transportation modes that we can rely on. That disruption on the rails is going to have a dramatic effect on almost every aspect of our economy.

ABC NEWS LIVE: And I understand that Congress has the ability to step in if a strike does happen. Do you think that the government ultimately will have to get involved?

ESHKENAZI: I don’t see how it doesn’t happen for a variety of reasons. No. 1, our economy depends on efficient rail and logistics. Secondly, we’re coming into the November elections. I don’t think that anybody in the legislature wants to address a rail stoppage or a work stoppage right now if we can avert it. Obviously, we’re already dealing with a lot of impact from the pandemic and a lot of the disruptions in our supply chain, whether from [the] China shutdown or weather-related issues. I’m not sure that we’re prepared for a significant disruption in our rail systems. Supply chain professionals need and work with accurate data and reliable systems. Removing this mode or modality of transportation would have significant and detrimental effects to almost every aspect of our supply chain.

 

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(NEW YORK) — PepsiCo Inc. is recalling hundreds of Starbucks espresso bottles that were sold in a handful of states due to possible contamination of metal particles, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced.

The agency said 221 cases of Starbucks Vanilla Espresso Triple Shot, 15 ounces, that were sold in Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Oklahoma and Texas are affected. Each case has 12 bottles.

Consumers who have purchased the recalled product are urged to stop consuming the product and return it to the place of purchase.

The recall was initiated on Aug. 15 but posted by the FDA on Sept. 8.

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(NEW YORK) — A hotter-than-expected inflation report on Tuesday sent the stock market tumbling.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 1,200 points, which amounted to a nearly 4% drop, making it the index’s worst day since June 2020. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 — the index to which many 401(k)s are pegged — dropped more than 4%, its worst day of 2022. The tech-heavy Nasdaq plummeted more than 5%.

Inflation data released on Tuesday revealed that prices rose slightly in August, worsening the cost woes for U.S. households as the Federal Reserve readies to decide on another interest rate hike next week.

The data calls into question whether inflation has peaked.

On a monthly basis, the consumer price index rose 0.1% in August, inching upward from the flat month-to-month movement in July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The consumer price index, or CPI, rose 8.3% over the past year in August, a slight slowdown from 8.5% in July, according to the bureau.

The CPI continued to show one major bright spot: gasoline prices. The cost of gas continued to fall significantly, dropping 10.6% in August.

Prices rose broadly outside of the energy sector. Food prices rose 0.8% on a monthly basis, slowing from their monthly increase in July but remaining highly elevated.

Measures of the consumer prices for shelter, new vehicles and apparel all rose at a faster rate in August than they had over the month prior.

The data arrives little more than a week before Federal Reserve officials meet to determine what investors expect to be another borrowing cost increase aimed at fighting inflation.

The Fed has instituted a series of aggressive interest rate hikes in recent months as it tries to slash price increases by slowing the economy and choking off demand. But the approach risks tipping the U.S. into an economic downturn and putting millions out of work.

The rate increases appear to have slowed key sectors of the economy, sending mortgage rates higher and slowing the construction of new homes, for instance.

But other indicators suggest the U.S. economy continues to hum. U.S. hiring fell from its breakneck pace but remained robust in August, with the economy adding 315,000 jobs and the unemployment rate rising to 3.7% as more people sought work, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in early September.

Speaking at a conference held by the conservative-leaning Cato Institute, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday that the central bank must act “forthrightly, strongly” to dial back inflation, leading many economists to expect another 75-basis point interest rate hike from the central bank later this month.

The Fed is performing a “delicate balancing act,” said Scott Schuh, an economics professor at the University of West Virginia. “The Fed is raising rates but trying to avoid an increase in the unemployment rate.”

“It seems somewhat reasonable to expect the inflation rate to continue to come down for the next few months and quarters,” he added.

Prices in some areas of the economy have already fallen significantly.

The national average price for a gallon of gas stood at $3.72 on Monday, having fallen well below a peak of $5.01 in mid-June, according to AAA.

Consumer expectations for inflation have fallen significantly too, according to data released by the New York Federal Reserve on Monday.

In August, the median of consumer responses showed that they expect inflation to fall to 5.7% in one year and 2.8% in three years, a New York Federal Reserve survey showed. Those figures were down from 6.2% and 3.2%, respectively, in July.

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(NEW YORK) — A gunman in Aurora, Colorado, who killed 12 people in a mass shooting at a movie theater, in 2012, legally acquired weapons and ammunition using a credit card.

So did a shooter in Orlando, Florida, in 2016, who killed 49 people at a nightclub. After a shooting at a music festival in Las Vegas, in 2017, which left 59 dead, police found credit cards on the countertop in the shooter’s hotel room.

In recent years, gun reform advocates and some lawmakers have called on credit card companies and banks to bolster their tracking and reporting of unusual purchase activity tied to firearms in the hopes that it would help authorities identify potential mass shooters before they carry out attacks.

Late last week, major credit companies took a step that could allow them to do just that. Visa, Mastercard and American Express announced plans to use a specific code for categorizing credit and debit card purchases made at gun stores.

The move follows a decision from the International Organization for Standardization, or ISO, a group that makes guidelines for such transactions, which said on Friday that it would create the unique code that allows gun stores to mark credit and debit card purchases.

Gun reform advocates applauded the step, while gun rights groups, such as the National Rifle Association, condemned it. Experts told ABC News the move may help authorities intervene before a mass shooting, but its effectiveness depends on how banks and credit card companies implement the new tool.

Here’s how the credit card code works and what happens next:

What do credit cards have to do with mass shootings?

Many mass shooters have legally purchased weapons and ammunition using credit or debit cards.

Between 2007 and 2018, there were 13 mass shootings that killed 10 or more people, the New York Times found. Of those 13 shootings, the killers financed their attacks with credit cards in eight of them, the Times said.

It remains unclear whether the credit cards found in the hotel room of the Las Vegas shooter were used to purchase guns, since government officials have not disclosed how the guns were purchased, beyond saying that some were bought with cash and some online, the Times reported.

The new purchase code will help banks and law enforcement discover unusual purchases, and provide an additional means for identifying and stopping potential attackers before a mass shooting, said Adam Skaggs, chief counsel and policy director of the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

“It’s significant,” Skaggs told ABC News. “This creates a tool that will allow suspicious activity around illegal gun trafficking and around mass shootings to be detected and flagged to the authorities.”

How does the new credit card code work?

Nearly every category of a retailer in the U.S. has a code, called a merchant category code, or MCC, that marks each credit card transaction. For instance, purchases at grocery stores, movie theaters, and hair salons each carry a different code.

Until late last week, sellers of guns and other gun-related products shared a code with sporting goods stores.

“There was no way to tell whether somebody spent a thousand dollars on guns and ammo or on soccer balls and hockey sticks,” Skaggs said.

Now, credit and debit card transactions at gun sellers will carry a unique code that marks them as such.

Gun advocates hope the new code will push banks to report some gun purchases, since a law passed in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks requires the banks to alert authorities to suspicious transaction activity. For example, banks use algorithms to flag unusual activity that may indicate money laundering or human trafficking, Skaggs said.

It remains unclear if and how credit card companies and banks will apply a standard that deems some gun-related purchases worthy of flagging, especially when the code only shows that a purchase was made at a gun seller but not the products that were purchased, said Kevin Sullivan, a former fraud investigator with the New York Police and founder of the Anti-Money Laundering Training Academy.

“The bank is aware you shopped at a gun store — now what?” Sullivan told ABC News. “What are the parameters going to be now? What are the lines you’re going to cross?”

What are the credit card companies saying?

Late last week major credit card companies said they plan to use the code, including Visa, Mastercard and American Express. The companies did not respond directly to a question about how the new code will be enforced.

“Following ISO’s decision to establish a new merchant category code, Visa will proceed with next steps, while ensuring we protect all legal commerce on the Visa network in accordance with our long-standing rules,” Visa told ABC News in a statement.

Similarly, Mastercard said the company would implement the new code as it would for any other category of retailer.

“With ISO approving the proposed MCC, we now turn our focus to how it will be implemented by merchants and their banks as we continue to support lawful purchases on our network while protecting the privacy and decisions of individual cardholders,” Mastercard told ABC News in a statement.

“This is exactly how we would manage the process for any other appropriate MCC, like a bicycle shop or sporting goods store,” the company added.

Likewise, American Express told ABC News in a statement that it would move forward with putting the code in place.

“When ISO develops a new Merchant Category Code, we follow our usual business practices and will work with our third-party processors and partners on implementation,” the company said.

“It is important to note that MCC codes are one of many data points that help us understand the industries in which our merchants operate,” the company added. “We are focused on ensuring that we have the right controls in place to meet our regulatory and fiduciary responsibilities, as well as prevent illegal activity on our network.”

How have gun rights groups responded?

The National Rifle Association condemned the new code for credit and debit card transactions at gun stores.

“The ISO’s decision to create a firearm-specific code is nothing more than a capitulation to anti-gun politicians and activists bent on eroding the rights of law-abiding Americans one transaction at a time,” NRA Spokesman Lars Dalseide told ABC News in a statement.

“This is not about tracking or prevention or any virtuous motivation – it’s about creating a national registry of gun owners,” he added.

Skaggs, of the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, rebuked that characterization of the new merchant category code.

“There are merchant category codes for bookstores, newspapers and religious institutions,” he said. “Making a contribution to your faith institution on your credit card or purchasing books from a church-affiliated bookstore, those are all coded differently and those are all constitutionally protected rights that are widely practiced and respected in this country.”

“It’s not any different for guns,” he added.

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(WASHINGTON) — A whistleblower on Tuesday detailed a slate of explosive allegations against Twitter to congressional lawmakers, describing what he said were widespread security failures and vulnerabilities at the popular social media giant and an effort inside the company to overlook those risks in order to keep the platform viable and profitable.

As Twitter’s head of security, Peiter Zatko was a member of its executive team from late 2020 until he was fired earlier this year for alleged “ineffective leadership and poor performance” and Twitter has said he’s out to harm the company.

He told lawmakers he arrived at Twitter and discovered the company “was over a decade behind industry security standards” and prioritized monetizing advertising at the expense of widespread security vulnerabilities.

“I’m here today because Twitter leadership is misleading the public, lawmakers, regulators and even its own board of directors,” Zatko testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee. “The company’s cybersecurity failures make it vulnerable to exploitation, causing real harm to real people and when an influential media platform can be compromised by teenagers, thieves and spies, and the company repeatedly creates security problems on their own — this is a big deal for all of us.”

Zatko said that Twitter executives overlooked data vulnerabilities because data is the genesis of its profits.

“The executive in charge of sales very shortly after I joined [said], ‘This is a big internal conundrum, because we’re making too much money from these sales are not going to stop. We need something that will make the employees more comfortable with the fact that we’re doing this,'” Zatko said. “In a nutshell, it was, ‘We’re already in bed, it would be problematic if we lost that revenue stream, so figure out a way to make people comfortable with it.'”

Zatko also gave an illustrative example for senators, warning there are not safeguards in place to prevent a single Twitter employee from simultaneously taking control of every senator’s verified Twitter account — creating a national security emergency. He was hired shortly after several high-profile accounts were compromised.

“I discovered two basic issues. First, they don’t know what data they have, where it lives, or where it came from, and so unsurprisingly, they can’t protect it,” Zatko testified. “And this leads to the second problem, which is the employees then have to have too much access to too much data and too many systems. You can think of it this way, which is it doesn’t matter who has keys if you don’t have any locks on the doors, and this kind of vulnerability is not in the abstract. It’s not far-fetched to say that employee inside the company could take over the accounts of all of the senators in this room.”

Last month, Zatko brought his allegations to Congress and federal regulators, contending that Twitter misled regulators about its cybersecurity capabilities and efforts to control millions of fake accounts. Becoming visibly emotional Tuesday, Zatko lamented the impact his decision to become a whistleblower has had on his reputation and his family.

“Given to the real harm given the real harm to users and national security, I determined it was necessary to take on the personal and professional risks to myself and to my family of becoming a whistleblower,” he said, pausing to regain his composure. “I did not make my whistleblower disclosures out of spite or to harm Twitter.”

After the allegations became public last month, the Senate Judiciary Committee subpoenaed Zatko to tesitfy, warning that his allegations “raise serious concerns” and potentially “show dangerous data privacy and security risks for Twitter users around the world.”

Zatko was hired in 2020, reporting directly to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. His review of the platform contended that Twitter may currently have foreign intelligence agents on its payroll, among other alleged security vulnerabilities.

After learning of the scope of the spam accounts and other alleged security failures, billionaire Elon Musk has attempted to back out of a his $44 billion offer to acquire Twitter.

Senators bemoaned the absence of a Twitter representative, after Dorsey declined an invitation to testify amid his case against Musk.

“Unfortunately, this committee will not be able to get answers,” Sen. Charles Grassley, the ranking Republican said of Dorsey’s absence. “He rejected this committee’s invitation to appear by claiming that it would jeopardize Twitter ongoing litigations with Mr. Musk.”

This is a developing story, Please check back for updates.

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(NEW YORK) — Americans are finally starting to see the red-hot rental market begin to cool off, after record growth.

A combination of strong demand, low supply and high inflation have kept pressure on rental prices nationwide, but for the first time in 20 months, asking rental prices saw negative growth, falling 0.1% from July to August, according to CoStar Group.

CoStar Group, a provider of online real estate marketplaces, information and analytics, said this points toward a “deteriorating rental market” in its report.

It is welcome relief for renters who have seen their rents rise while dealing with inflation.

Rent prices climbed during the first half of 2022, hitting a national average of $2,495, according to HouseCanary’s National Rental Report.

While rental prices are still rising year-over-year, the pace of growth is slowing. Asking rents fell to 7.1% in August, down from 8.4% at the end of July, according to CoStar.

Cities that saw the fastest growth in rents in 2021 are now witnessing the largest pullback.

Palm Beach, Floridda saw the most dramatic slowdown in growth, where asking rents decreased from 30.6% in the fourth quarter of 2021 to 8.2% at the end of August, according to CoStar. Phoenix followed close behind with year-over-year rents dropping to 5.2% in August compared to 21% at the end of 2021. Rents in Tampa, Florida have also seen decreases and Las Vegas also fell double digits so far this year.

Still, nearly half of all renters in the U.S. are paying 30% or more of their annual income on rent, according to a report from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.

Marissa DuBee remembers having “sticker shock” when searching for a rental this summer.

DuBee, a 30-year-old social media marketer, and her fiance Troy, a commercial truck driver, had been renting a fully-furnished, 1,700 square foot, three-bedroom home in Greentown, Pennsylvania, for $1,250 a month. However, she told ABC News that their landlord decided to cash in on the hot-housing market this spring and sell the home, which meant they had to move into the basement of her mother’s house until they could find an affordable rental.

“It’s always tough to go back once you’ve been out on your own,” she said. “And we were very fortunate and lucky enough that my mom let us live there with open arms.”

DuBee said they currently pay $1,300 a month for a much smaller rental in the same town; a single-wide mobile home with three bedrooms. She said the two are trying to save as much as they can for their November 2023 wedding.

“The both of us are working as hard as we can to make ends meet to plan the wedding of our dreams. It definitely is challenging especially with the cost of everything just going up, but in the end we know it’ll all be worth it,” DuBee said.

Housing accounts for about one-third of inflation. The Consumer Price Index reached an annual rate of 8.3% in August, the highest in nearly 40 years, the Labor Department said. Average hourly earnings rose 5.2% in August from a year ago.

With a rental income of $4,000 a month, 22-year-old Grace Villiano thought she and her roommate would have plenty of options when they were looking for an apartment in Manhattan, New York. What they found instead was intense competition and bidding wars for too few apartments.

“Every apartment we would schedule an open house to see would be sent into contract within 20 minutes of us contacting the property,” Villiano said. “We would have people walking in front of us offering multiple thousands above asking. It was honestly, overall, very frustrating that we felt we could barely get our foot in the door and that we would ultimately have to agree to an apartment without being able to see it or perhaps even see a floor plan.”

While rent prices are showing signs of stabilizing in some markets, New York City rents remain at a record high. This summer, the average monthly rent in Manhattan topped $5,000 for the first time, according to a report by the real estate appraiser, Miller Samuel.

A New York City property manager, with over 2,000 rental units in Manhattan, said inflation is also impacting landlords. Speaking with ABC News on the condition of anonymity, the property manager said, “We’re paying more for utilities like water and gas, more for maintenance and staff, which is the main reason why rents have remained elevated.”

The property manager also said current rents in the city may seem artificially higher than they truly are because they are being compared with prices during the height of the pandemic, when many landlords were slashing rents and offering major perks to lure renters back to big cities.

For many Americans, rising mortgage rates continue to complicate the question of whether to buy or rent, experts said. In some markets, mortgage payments are the highest on record relative to monthly rent.

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, the median monthly mortgage payment was almost one-and-a-half-times as much as the median monthly asking rent in the second quarter.

Analysts said that may have forced many people, especially first-time home buyers, to hold off on buying a home, adding further pressure on rental prices.

But there are reasons for optimism. Analysts said a record volume of apartment construction over the next year could help ease a supply crunch, which in turn, would work to keep rental prices in check.

CoStar projects rent growth will continue to slow in the coming months, ending the year 6.2% higher than last year. Things are expected to decelerate even further in 2023, when CoStar projects rents to rise 4.9%.

While renters don’t have much control over rising prices, experts said renewing your current lease will likely give you the smallest increase in rent, since renewal rates typically tend to be lower than rents being offered to new renters. They they also recommend locking in a longer-term lease to avoid higher annual rent increases.

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