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(NEW YORK) — Purveyors of legal marijuana are cautiously applauding a Democrat-backed Senate bill to end the federal prohibition of pot, saying their businesses have been stymied by banking regulations that force them to deal in cash and make them a target for thieves.

For the first time in history, some Senate Democrats introduced a bill to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level and remove cannabis from the federal list of controlled substances — laws that led to more than 1.5 million arrests in 2019 alone, 32% of which were for nonviolent lower-level marijuana possession offenses, according to the nonprofit Drugpolicyfacts.org.

Federal laws have also created a legal gray area for businesses operating in states where marijuana is legal.

The Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act is backed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who called the legislation “monumental.”

But some cannabis industry insiders told ABC News that while the draft legislation includes many things that would greatly benefit dispensaries and growers — like allowing them to get bank financing, accept credit cards and go public on the New York Stock Exchange — they would rather see the federal government leave the issue in the hands of states.

“I hope I’m dead wrong, but the cynic in me says why would a Democratically-controlled Congress want to put a legalization bill in front of a president from their party who has already said he doesn’t want to sign a legalization bill?” Kyle Kazan, the CEO of American cannabis production and distribution company Curaleaf, told ABC News.

Kazan also worries about federal involvement because of the damage done by the war on drugs.

Despite Schumer’s support for the bill, President Joe Biden still opposes federal legalization of marijuana, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Wednesday and the measure would need several Republicans to support it to pass.

‘Excited’ but staying ‘realistic’

The legislation, co-sponsored by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., would aim to expunge criminal records of most nonviolent marijuana offenses and create banking systems to help cannabis businesses, specifically hundreds of small and minority-owned companies wanting in on the so-called marijuana green rush.

Headset, a provider of data and analytics to the cannabis industry, forecast this week that the U.S. legal cannabis market will surpass $30 billion in sales in 2022.

The legislation, now in its early draft stage, would also allow states to craft their own cannabis laws, as states do with alcohol. A new federal excise tax would also be created similar to alcohol and tobacco.

The proposal would also clear the way for U.S. marijuana companies to use banking services, including holding bank accounts and taking out loans and allow companies to list on U.S. stock exchanges. Currently, cannabis companies do not have access to the banking system because their product is illegal in the eyes of the federal government.

Despite his doubts, Kazan, a former California police officer, said he would love to see the legislation pass, but have the federal government largely leave the details to the states.

“As much as I am cheering for Cory Booker and Chuck Schumer and (Senate Minority Leader) Mitch McConnell to come together on something, I think it would be best if they just said, ‘Let’s get the hell out of the way and let the states do it,'” said Kazan, whose company trades on the Canadian Stock Exchange. “The federal government has only done harm here with the war on drugs and the war on cannabis. You have tens of thousands of people that are serving hard time for nonviolent cannabis and other drug crimes. Just stop doing harm.”

Steve DeAngelo, a co-founder of Harborside Health Inc., a California cannabis company that also trades on the Canadian Stock Exchange, told ABC News that the legislation has been a long time coming.

“I’m excited. But I also want to be realistic about it,” said DeAngelo, who has been dubbed the father of the legal cannabis industry. “But it’s a great day when the Senate majority leader comes out supporting comprehensive legalization of cannabis at the federal level. That is a great day for our movement.”

To date, 18 states have legalized the recreational use of marijuana and 37 states, along with the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, now allow the medical use of the drug.

A Pew Research Center Poll released in April showed that 91% of U.S. adults say marijuana should be legal for medical and recreational use.

DeAngelo cofounded a medical marijuana business in Northern California as a non-profit more than a decade ago and said it’s been an uphill climb ever since due to conflicts with federal regulations listing marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug with narcotics as heroin.

“Most successful businesses in the United States have an ability to go to a bank and get financing for a variety of uses at a reasonable interest rate. Cannabis businesses aren’t able to go to banks and get any type of financing,” DeAngelo told ABC News.

“When we’re trying to … just operate in an efficient way and do things like paying our taxes, those same banking laws can require us to do crazy things like go into tax offices with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash in order to pay our back taxes,” he added. “Things aren’t safe or efficient.”

An increasing target for thieves

Having to have large amounts of cash on hand to do business and shelves stocked with high-grade cannabis, dispensaries and grow operations have increasingly become alluring targets for robbers.

In San Francisco last week, a group of robbers stormed a cannabis dispensary in the city’s Potrero Hill neighborhood, overwhelmed a security guard and took his gun before ransacking the business and making off in multiple getaway vehicles with boxes of marijuana, police said. On June 17, an attempted robbery at a pot dispensary in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles led to a shootout in front of the business that left a security guard critically wounded and one of the suspects dead, according to police there.

“It’s been a huge problem. People have died because of this,” DeAngelo said.

He said that allowing cannabis businesses to accept credit cards would help eliminate the need to have large amounts of cash on hand.

“That’s one of the good things that this will do,” he said of the legislation.

McConnell, the powerful Republican from Kentucky, has said he opposes the Senate bill, which will need 60 votes to pass, including 10 Republican votes.

DeAngelo said that if he had a chance to speak with McConnell, he’d say, “cannabis isn’t harmful but cannabis prohibition is.” He noted that during the COVID-19 pandemic many cities in states where recreational cannabis is legal designated pot dispensaries essential businesses along with pharmacies.

“They need to abandon old and outdated ways of thinking about cannabis,” DeAngelo said.

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(NEW YORK) — There were times throughout the COVID-19 pandemic when Maeghan Murdock worried about how her family — which includes a newborn — would keep up with all their growing financial demands.

Facing an inevitable $300 rent increase as bills piled up, their dreams of saving to eventually buy their own home seemed to be a far-fetched goal.

But then several rounds of economic impact payments came through. She and her husband were able to save those federal stimulus dollars and apply about $18,000 to help purchase a new home in Tucson, Arizona.

Now Murdock, 29, a non-profit professional, sees the Biden administration’s new, expanded child tax credit with its monthly payments as a means of bringing some stability to their family as her husband’s return to work as a professional chef depends on how fast the restaurant industry bounces back from the havoc wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The tax credits will help us make sure that we’re able to pay our mortgage and have things that we need for our child,” she said.

Even as Americans begin returning to work and school this fall in greater number, economic uncertainty for those living at or below the poverty line is still a top-of-mind concern. For the families of nearly 12 million children in the U.S. who live in poverty and disproportionately identify as African-Americans or Latinos, the Biden administration’s child tax credits could be a game-changer, but those monthly payments are scheduled to end in December.

Touting the payments as they started to go out Thursday, President Joe Biden called them “another giant step toward ending child poverty in America.”

“This has the potential to reduce child poverty in the same way that the Social Security reduced poverty for the elderly,” he said.

Biden’s American Rescue Plan proposes an extension of the tax credit for four more years through 2025, but Congress still needs to vote on that.

Senior administration officials say it is the president’s goal to see the child tax credits extended past this year and ultimately become a permanent fixture of U.S. government policy.

The Treasury Department says as much as $15 billion in funds are expected to go to the families of 60 million children, with average payments totaling up to $423 per family.

Democratic lawmakers are embracing the idea that these child tax credits will go far in tackling the nation’s long fought battle against child poverty.

“The expansion of the Child Tax Credit is one of the single biggest investments we’ve made in American families and children in generations, benefitting 96% of families with kids,” said Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., in a statement. “Now, we must seize the opportunity to make it permanent.”

The Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University found that the child tax credits could cut child poverty by more than half.

“We also know that families living below the poverty line are over 40 times more likely to enter the child welfare system than those above the poverty line,” said Laura Boyd, a public policy specialist with the Family Centered Treatment Foundation. “We have an ability and a moral obligation as a society to empower families, and the child tax credit is certainly one thing that will do that.”

Republican lawmakers have proposed their own payments for children and aren’t expected to move forward with a $3.5 trillion budget deal proposed by Democrats to extend the child tax credit.

The Federal Reserve found in a 2019 study that some 40% of Americans don’t have up to $400 in the bank to cover an emergency expense.

“We think it’s absolutely vital that it continue,” said John Sciamanna, vice president of public policy at the Child Welfare League of America. “This could be one of the most significant family supporting initiatives that we’ve ever dealt with in terms of the child welfare field. Poverty creates a range of factors and stressors on families.”

The Treasury Department estimates that families containing more than 26 million children who would have received less than the full child tax credit under the previous rules because their incomes were too low will now receive the full, expanded credit.

But millions of Americans who work in the cash economy and did not submit a tax return, which is how the Internal Revenue Service will determine eligibility for the credits, stand to miss out on these payments if they don’t register through agency’s non-filer portal.

An administration official said that the White House is coordinating an effort across Treasury and the IRS to identify and reach-out to non-filers who are likely to be eligible for these payments.

The White House coordinated effort will also seek to identify families of children that may be eligible by looking at individuals signed up for government welfare programs like the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) aimed at low-income households and focusing on high poverty zip codes, in addition to non-profit outreach.

The White House also hopes that its partnership efforts with children’s advocacy groups, women’s organizations, and faith-based organizations will help in identifying the estimated more than seven million children who won’t automatically receive the child tax benefit.

An IRS spokesman, in a statement, said that the agency is partnering with “non-profit organizations, churches, community groups and others hosted events in 12 cities last weekend to help people who don’t normally file a federal tax return to register for the monthly advance child tax credit payments.”

White House press secretary Jen Psaki argued Thursday that it is only a small percentage of Americans who will not automatically receive the payments, but that the administration would continue to work at reaching those Americans, pointing to previous efforts to get stimulus payments out to individuals who didn’t pay taxes earlier this year.

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(NEW YORK) — For anyone who prefers cool crisp autumn air and warm baking spices, there’s a new treat hitting shelves this fall that will make the change of the season an extra sweet transition.

Nestlé Toll House announced its all-new seasonal cookie doughs and Morsels & More flavors and yes, that means pumpkin spice.

In addition to the fan-favorite seasonal coffee drink flavor, there will also be a classic and nostalgic flavor combo — peanut butter and jelly.

Check out the full lineup of offerings below that will be available starting in August for a limited time at grocery stores and retailers nationwide:

PB&J Cookie Dough: A combination of peanut butter cookie dough and sweet strawberry-flavored pieces.

Pumpkin Spice Cookie Dough: Pumpkin spice-flavored cookie dough mixed with premier white morsels.

Pumpkin Spice Latte Flavored Morsels & More: A one-of-a-kind assortment of premier white morsels, mini coffee biscuits and pumpkin spice-flavored chunks.

Cinnamon Roll Cookie Dough: Cinnamon sugar cookie dough mixed with naturally flavored cream cheese pieces.

Trick or Treats Cookie Dough: Indulgent fudge cookie dough topped with festive Halloween sprinkles.

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(NEW YORK) — Blue Origin revealed Thursday that the fourth member of its first crewed flight will be the youngest person ever to fly to space.

Oliver Daemen, 18, will join Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Mark Bezos (Jeff’s brother) and 82-year-old Wally Funk on a spaceflight set to launch next Tuesday from west Texas. Funk, a pioneering pilot who dreamed of being an astronaut in the 1960s, will become the oldest person to travel to space.

Blue Origin auctioned the final seat on its inaugural crewed flight for a whopping $28 million.

In a surprise announcement Thursday, however, the company said the anonymous auction winner will not be able to join the historic spaceflight due to “scheduling conflicts.” The bidder, who seeks to remain anonymous, will join a future mission, the company said.

Daemen will now earn the tile of the first paying customer to board the space tourism firm’s New Shepard spacecraft. The company did not reveal how much Daemen paid for his seat.

“This marks the beginning of commercial operations for New Shepard, and Oliver represents a new generation of people who will help us build a road to space,” Bob Smith, the CEO of Blue Origin, said in a statement Thursday.

Daemen, who graduated from high school in 2020, has been besotted by space travel since he was four. He will attend the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands starting this September, and is set to study “physics and innovation management,” Blue Origin said.

The inaugural crewed flight for Blue Origin is scheduled for July 20. In total, the flight is only about 11 minutes, and approximately four minutes will be spent above the so-called Karman line that is defined as the boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and outer space.

It comes on the heels of a brief, successful spaceflight from Sir Richard Branson’s firm Virgin Galactic last weekend. The back-to-back missions are seen as ushering in a new era of space tourism that has been propelled by an emerging, billionaire-backed commercial space industry.

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(NEW YORK) — Johnson & Johnson has issued a voluntary recall of several sunscreen products after finding they contain trace amounts of a cancer-causing chemical.

The recalled products include five Neutrogena and Aveeno aerosol sunscreens, according to a statement released Wednesday by the company.

Some samples of the affected products, all spray-on sunscreens, were found to contain low levels of benzene, according to Johnson & Johnson, the parent company.

Johnson & Johnson said it recalled the products out of an “abundance of caution,” noting the low levels of benzene found in the samples would not be expected to impact people’s health.

“Based on exposure modeling and the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) framework, daily exposure to benzene in these aerosol sunscreen products at the levels detected in our testing would not be expected to cause adverse health consequences,” the company said in a statement. “Out of an abundance of caution, we are recalling all lots of these specific aerosol sunscreen products.”

Benzene is a colorless chemical that can cause complications like cancer, anemia and immune system damage, as well as irregular menstrual periods and a decrease in ovary size in women, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The most severe health complications typically come after long term exposure to benzene, which the CDC defines as exposure of one year or more.

The five sunscreen products impacted by the voluntary recall are:

• NEUTROGENA® Beach Defense® aerosol sunscreen
• NEUTROGENA® Cool Dry Sport aerosol sunscreen
• NEUTROGENA® Invisible Daily™ defense aerosol sunscreen
• NEUTROGENA® Ultra Sheer® aerosol sunscreen
• AVEENO® Protect + Refresh aerosol sunscreen

Product images and lot information is available on www.Neutrogena.com and www.aveeno.com.

Johnson & Johnson is advising consumers to stop using these products and discard them.

“Consumers may contact the JJCI Consumer Care Center 24/7 with questions or to request a refund by calling 1-800-458-1673. Consumers should contact their physician or healthcare provider if they have any questions, concerns or have experienced any problems related to using these aerosol sunscreen products,” the company said in a statement. “JJCI is also notifying its distributors and retailers by letter and is arranging for returns of all recalled products.”

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(NEW YORK) — The vast majority of American families with children will automatically receive up to $300 per month, per child, beginning Thursday, the IRS and Treasury Department have announced.

The IRS said families who qualify for the Child Tax Credit, which was expanded as part of President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, will receive monthly payments without taking any further action. Initial eligibility will be based on 2019 or 2020 tax returns.

The changes increased the child tax credit from $2,000 to $3,000 for children over 6, and to $3,600 for children under 6.

According to the IRS: “For tax year 2021, the Child Tax Credit is increased from $2,000 per qualifying child to: $3,600 for children ages 5 and under at the end of 2021; and $3,000 for children ages 6 through 17 at the end of 2021.”

In a nutshell: Families making less than $150,000 a year and single parents making less than $112,500 are now eligible for a credit of up to $3,600 per child. Payments will be going out to 39 million households, according to the IRS.

The IRS also added on its website: “The $500 nonrefundable Credit for Other Dependents amount has not changed.”

Biden will mark the rollout of checks and direct deposits from the child tax credit with a White House event featuring Americans who will benefit.

“We have seen projections that the child tax credit, the implementation or the extension of child tax credit could reduce — could cut child poverty in half,” press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday. “And this is just extra money that’s going into people’s bank accounts who need help the most. So, the president felt it was important to elevate this issue, to make sure people understand this is a benefit that will help them as we still work to recover from the pandemic and the economic downturn.”

In a June 21 statement, the president called the program the “largest-ever child tax credit.”

“For parents working to make ends meet and raise their children with greater security, dignity, and opportunity, help is here,” Biden said.

The Biden administration also launched a website with details about the tax credit.

The benefits will be paid monthly, according to the IRS. People can register for the program even if they did not fully file taxes.

Set to expire after a year, Biden has proposed extending the program through 2025.

In the meantime, this calculator from ABC News’ data journalism team tells you how much you may receive from the Child Tax Credit program using the guidelines spelled out in the bill based on your most recent tax form. The information you enter will not be stored or saved in any way.

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(NEW YORK) — Millions of parents across the country will start receiving money from the federal government as soon as Thursday, July 15.

Under the Child Tax Credit expansion put forth in under President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, some households will start receiving monthly payments, instead of a lump sum payment in the past, and in most cases will receive more money than they have previously.

“One of the big ideas is to align this with the expenses you have with raising a child. You have to buy diapers every month. You have to buy food every month,” said Erica York, an economist with Tax Foundation’s Center for Federal Tax Policy. “So the idea is to provide the child tax credit aligned with those expenses to help with them rather than waiting and getting one lump sum payment once a year.”

York, a mother of a 2-year-old daughter, answered six burning questions about the new child tax credit to help provide answers for parents:

1. What is changing about the child tax credit?

There are three big changes, according to York.

First, the child tax credit has been increased from $2,000 to $3,000 for children over 6, and to $3,600 for children under 6. It also expands the ages of children eligible, raising the age limit from 16 to 17.

Second, the child tax credit no longer phases in with income, but instead is fully refundable. This means that low-income families and families that don’t file taxes — those that make less than the standard deduction of $24,800 — can now receive the full amount of the credit.

Third, Congress directed the IRS to pay half of the new credit amount in advance monthly payments that will start hitting people’s bank accounts on July 15. The maximum monthly payments that people could receive would be $300 or $250, depending on a child’s age, according to York.

2. Do parents need to do anything to get the increased child tax credit?

Most households will not need to do anything, according to York, adding that households eligible for the payments should have already received letters from the IRS explaining the changes.

“The IRS is going to estimate the payments that people are due based on their most recently filed tax return,” she said. “If someone has already filed their 2020 taxes, the IRS will use the information on that tax return for income levels, the number of eligible children and where to send the payment. If a person hasn’t filed their 2020 tax return, the IRS will use their 2019 tax return.”

For people who have not previously filed taxes, the IRS has created a new online tool that allows non-filers to report their information.

In certain cases, like if you’ve had an income change since your 2020 tax return or if you take turns claiming the child tax credit with a former partner, you will need to notify the IRS of those changes, according to York.

3. How long will the child tax credit increase last?

The monthly payments will be made through December of this year, according to York.

And as the law currently stands, the increased child tax credit is only in effect for 2021 and would revert back down to its $2,000 level next year.

Biden has proposed extending the program through 2025, but that proposal has not made it through Congress.

4. Are any parents not eligible for the increased child tax credit?

The extra amounts of the credit — the $1,600 and $1,000 increases above the normal $2,000 amount – do start phasing out above certain income levels, according to York.

For married couples, the increased tax credit starts phasing out at a household income of $150,000.

For single parents who use the head of household filing status, it starts phasing out at an income of $112,500.

So, families making above $150,000 a year and single parents making above $112,500 will still be eligible for the same credit amount they would have received without Biden’s changes, but not eligible for the full increased amount.

Families making less than $150,000 a year and single parents making less than $112,500 are now eligible for a credit of up to $3,600 per child.

The biggest beneficiaries of the changes to the child tax credit will be low-income families and non-filers, according to York.

5. Will I still get a child tax credit payment when I file my taxes?

The new monthly advance payments rolling out now will come with a tradeoff at tax time, explained York.

“Each dollar of payment that you get now reduces how much child tax credit you get when you file your taxes,” she said. “If people don’t change their tax withholding from their paychecks, that could mean that they see a smaller tax refund at tax time or even a balance due because instead of getting the full child tax credit when you file your taxes next year, you’ve already got some of it now.”

Taxpayers can opt-out of the monthly payments though ahead of a certain deadline each month.

The next deadline to opt-out of the monthly payments is Aug. 2, and opting out once will un-enroll you for all payments, so it’s not something you have to do each month.

Taxpayers can manage their payments on the IRS website.

Next January, before the start of tax filing season, the IRS will send out letters to eligible households that show the amount they received in advanced payments.

“That’s something that taxpayers will want to save and use when they file their taxes,” said York.

6. Where do I get more information?

The IRS has an entire section of its website devoted to information on the advance child tax credit payments.

The Biden administration also launched a website with details about the tax credit.

This calculator from ABC News’ data journalism team tells you how much you may receive from the Child Tax Credit program using the guidelines spelled out in the bill based on your most recent tax form.

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(NEW YORK) — Norwegian Cruise Lines is suing Florida after the state banned vaccine passports, saying it cannot safely resume sailings without ensuring its passengers and crew are vaccinated against COVID-19.

In a complaint filed Tuesday, the company called the move a “last resort.”

“The State of Florida has indicated that it is otherwise preventing (Norwegian) from safely and soundly resuming passenger cruise operations from Miami, Florida, … in the way that this cruise line has determined will be best for all concerned — with the benefit of documentation confirming that all of its passengers and crew have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19,” the complaint said.

Florida’s law threatens to fine companies $5,000 each time they ask a customer to provide proof that they’ve been vaccinated. Gov. Ron DeSantis’ press secretary called the lawsuit “disappointing” saying Norwegian is “discriminating against children and other individuals who cannot be vaccinated or who have opted not to be vaccinated for reasons of health, religion, or conscience.”

“This Administration will not tolerate such widespread discrimination. Therefore, Norwegian faces a $5,000 fine from whom they demand a vaccination status,” Christina Pushaw, the governor’s press secretary, said in a statement to ABC News.

Company CEO Frank Del Rio previously threatened to move the company’s ships out of Florida if they were not allowed to mandate vaccines.

“At the end of the day, cruise ships have motors, propellers and rudders, and God forbid we can’t operate in the state of Florida for whatever reason, then there are other states that we do operate from, and we can operate from the Caribbean for a ship that otherwise would have gone to Florida,” Del Rio said during an earnings call in May.

Norwegian’s first cruise from Miami is scheduled to sail on Aug. 15, but the company said the ban on vaccine passports puts it in an “impossible dilemma.”

“NCLH will find itself either on the wrong side of health and safety and the operative federal legal framework, or else on the wrong side of Florida law,” the complaint said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has banned most cruising from U.S. waters since March 2020. Companies have been working with the CDC to resume sailings under its conditional sail order — a set of guidelines for cruise companies wishing to resume sailing in the U.S., including test cruises and vaccine requirements.

DeSantis recently won a lawsuit against the CDC, in which a judge ruled the agency overstepped in its authority regarding the conditional sail order.

Some companies have already resumed sailings from Florida, with the Celebrity Edge departing Port Everglades on June 26.

The Florida Department of Health did not immediately respond to request for comment.

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(NEW YORK) — Peppa Pig super fans, brace yourselves.

Reebok and Hasbro have partnered to release an all-new kids-only collection.

Officially releasing on July 19, the collection will include five unique Peppa Pig-inspired sneakers featuring everything from the beloved Peppa character to special designs mirrored after her friends Suzy Sheep and Candy Cat.

Reebok’s latest collaboration with Hasbro was inspired by the success of both brands’ first capsule collections, which launched together in February.

Each sneaker has been designed to encourage children to explore and allow their imaginations to run wild.

One standout from the Reebok x Peppa Pig collection is the Club C sneaker, which is inspired by one of the athletic brand’s classic models. It features Peppa and her friends peeking out of the plant and flower illustrations on each side of the shoe. There are also hidden graphics on the outer soles and heel tabs.

Another great pick from the latest line was inspired by one of Peppa’s go-to summertime activities, which is to blow bubbles. The sneaker is bright pink and also includes fun whimsical glitter-filled graphics along each side as well as the heel of the shoe.

Except for the preschool Classic Leather and preschool Club C sneakers, parents and kids alike will be happy to see that most of the shoes have easy-to-access stretch lace or velcro straps.

In case you are planning ahead for back-to-school shopping, these might be a great addition to your shopping lists.

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(WASHINGTON) — Consumer prices continued to climb last month, newly-released data indicates, as the economy begins to bounce back from the pandemic-induced downturn.

The consumer price index, the Labor Department’s measure of what consumers pay for everyday goods and services, spiked 5.4% over the last 12 months. In June alone, it jumped 0.9%.

This was the largest one-month change since June 2008 and the largest 12-month increase since August 2008, the Labor Department said Tuesday.

The latest CPI data was largely driven up by the index for used cars and trucks, which skyrocketed by a whopping 10.5% in June amid a global chip shortage. This increase accounted for more than one-third of the increase for all items.

The so-called core index, which accounts for all items except the more volatile food and energy index, spiked 0.9% in June after rising 0.7% in May. The core index rose by some 4.5% over the last year — the largest 12-month increase since the period ending in Nov. 1991.

The food index spiked 0.8% in June, double the 0.4% jump reported in May. The energy index spiked 1.5% last month, with the gasoline index spiking 2.5%. Over the last 12 months, the food index was up 2.4% and the energy index rose 24.5%.

While nearly all the indexes saw increases last month, the index for medical care and the index for household furnishings were among the few that decreased in June, according to the DOL. The consumer price index for all items has been trending upward every month since the start of the year.

The latest figures come as the pandemic wanes in the U.S. and consumer demand surges while many businesses have reported supply chain bottlenecks and labor issues. Meanwhile, economists and policymakers mull over whether the data reflects a temporary blip or indicates the potential of longer-term inflation.

Last month, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell downplayed inflation fears in a testimony before lawmakers, saying it is likely temporary.

“Inflation has increased notably in recent months,” Powell stated, according to prepared remarks. “This reflects, in part, the very low readings from early in the pandemic falling out of the calculation; the pass-through of past increases in oil prices to consumer energy prices; the rebound in spending as the economy continues to reopen; and the exacerbating factor of supply bottlenecks, which have limited how quickly production in some sectors can respond in the near term.”

“As these transitory supply effects abate, inflation is expected to drop back toward our longer-run goal,” he added.

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