Feds say consumer prices rose 6.3% in July from a year earlier, slightly down from June number

The Commerce Department reported Friday that consumer prices increased 6.3% in July from a year earlier, following an annual increase of 6.8% in June, a sign that record inflation might be easing.

The 12-month increase in June was the biggest  since 1982, according to the Associated Press.

The agency’s monthly Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index is closely watched by the Federal Reserve, which has recently increased interest rates to try to cool inflation.

Inflation eased last month as energy prices decreased, raising hopes that the surging costs such goods as gasoline and food may have peaked, the wire service also reports.