Daily Briefing: Why your rent is high

Nicole Fallert, USA TODAY
Updated ·5 min read
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Americans struggling with a two-year inflation run-up are getting some relief at the gas pump and in grocery stores while rent costs are still climbing. Also in the news: No more survivors were found by rescuers after a boat carrying hundreds of migrants sank off the coast of southern Greece. We take a look at how four children stranded after a plane crash survived 40 days in the Amazon.

🙋🏼‍♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert, Daily Briefing author. These last-minute Father's Day gifts will arrive on time.

Now, here we go with Thursday's news.

Will rent go down in 2023?

Rent again was the biggest driver of inflation, though the increase has slowed somewhat, according to the Labor Department’s latest consumer price index. Economists expect rent increases to ease substantially, based on new leases, but that shift has been slow to filter through to existing leases.

The latest index showed inflation slowed for an eleventh straight month in May as grocery price increases eased again and gas more than reversed the previous month’s rise.

  • Omelets are okay: In May, the price of eggs dropped by a whopping 13.8%, the fourth straight monthly decline after a string of sharp bird flu-related increases, and costs are now down 0.4% over the past year.

  • And then the Fed rested. After its sharpest flurry of interest rate hikes in four decades, the Federal Reserve held its key rate steady Wednesday but signaled two more increases are likely this year.

More than 100 rescued near Greece after boat carrying migrants capsizes

A huge search and rescue operation has failed to find any more survivors after a fishing boat sank off the coast of southern Greece. Authorities said Wednesday that 79 bodies had been recovered and 104 people had been rescued, but the number of people who are missing or may still be in the sea had not been released. The boat is believed to be from eastern Libya and some reports said 400 people were on board. None of the survivors were wearing life jackets, authorities said. Read more

Paramedics carry an injured survivor of a shipwreck to an ambulance at a port southwest of Athens on Wednesday, June 14, 2023.
Paramedics carry an injured survivor of a shipwreck to an ambulance at a port southwest of Athens on Wednesday, June 14, 2023.

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Group of migrants bused to downtown Los Angeles from Texas

Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott announced Wednesday that he sent a first group of migrants to downtown Los Angeles, the latest incident involving a GOP governor transporting asylum-seekers to a state led by Democrats. Abbott said the migrants were bused to Los Angeles Wednesday because California had declared itself a "sanctuary" for immigrants. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who called the move a "despicable stunt," said in a statement that city departments and advocacy groups were mobilized to accept migrants from Texas. Read more

Official bring new blankets into St. Anthony's Croatian Catholic Church in Los Angeles on Wednesday, June 14, 2023. Forty-two migrants, including some children, were dropped off at Union Station Wednesday and were being cared for at the church.
Official bring new blankets into St. Anthony's Croatian Catholic Church in Los Angeles on Wednesday, June 14, 2023. Forty-two migrants, including some children, were dropped off at Union Station Wednesday and were being cared for at the church.

What's in the Republican student loan package?

Senate Republicans on Wednesday unveiled their plan to address America's student debt crisis as a Supreme Court decision on President Joe Biden's forgiveness plan is expected any day. The GOP package is made up of five bills meant to target rising higher education costs and address the "root cause" of student debt, lawmakers said. The bills include measures such as making information about outcomes at universities more accessible and requiring colleges and universities to use uniform financial aid letters that are clear on the costs associated with attending the institution. Read more

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How four children survived plane crash in the Amazon

New details are emerging about how four children survived a plane crash in the Amazon after Colombia's Civil Aviation Special Administrative Unit released a preliminary report completed before the children were found alive in the jungle 40 days later. The children were traveling from the Amazonian village of Araracuara to the town of San Jose del Guaviare on May 1 when the pilot declared an emergency. Three adults were on board, including the pilot and the children's mother, who died after the crash. Read more

Four Colombian children survived the dense Amazon forest for 40 days after their plane crashed on May 1.
Four Colombian children survived the dense Amazon forest for 40 days after their plane crashed on May 1.

Quick hits

Photo of the day:  Nigerian chef sets Guinness record

Nigerian chef Hilda Bassey, popularly known as Hilda Baci, spent nearly four exhausting days last month cooking enough food to feed hundreds of her fellow Nigerians while simultaneously making history. This week, the Guinness Book of World Records announced that the 26-year-old officially holds the record for the longest individual cooking marathon. Read more

Chef, Hilda Baci, cooked to establish a new Guinness world record , for the "longest cooking marathon."
Chef, Hilda Baci, cooked to establish a new Guinness world record , for the "longest cooking marathon."

Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com or follow along with her musings on Twitter. Support journalism like this – subscribe to USA TODAY here.

Associated Press contributed reporting.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Inflation, interest rate, migrant, student loans, Amazon plane crash, TikTok, golf: Daily Briefing