Inflation Hits 3-Year High & Escorts Cash In on AI Boom

**SPEAKER_1** (0:01)
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**Neal Freyman** (0:29)
Good Morning Brew Daily Show, I'm Neal Freyman.

**Toby Howell** (0:32)
And I'm Toby Howell.

**Neal Freyman** (0:33)
Today, everything you need to know to get prepared for the World Cup.

**Toby Howell** (0:37)
Then everything you need to know about the inflation data that just dropped. It's Thursday, June 11
Let's ride.

**Neal Freyman** (0:48)
So last night, I'm sound asleep like a responsible early morning podcaster when I'm jolted awake at about 11 45 p.m. There's tons of honking outside, people hooting and hollering, and then it hit me. The Knicks had won it. At halftime of game four, when I thought it was safe to go to bed, the Knicks were down 27 to the Spurs, but miraculously pulled off the biggest comeback in NBA finals history to win by one on an OG and an OB tip in with 1.2 seconds left. Absolute madness. If anyone's wondering what the small talk in your office is going to be this morning, be prepared for about two hours of, did you stay up for the Knicks game?

**Toby Howell** (1:24)
Speaking of offices, you know who is liking this Knicks run the most? It's Wall Street and PE guys. Front Office Sports talk to some employees who are usually tethered to their phones, who are now getting a hall pass because in the evenings, the evenings now belong to the Knicks. We barely see this kind of leniency for federal holidays, one said. It's gotten to the point where coworkers and I are sending emails back and forth just to make sure our WiFi isn't working. So the one thing that can give New York City deal makers and movers and shakers back, it's not friends, it's not family, it's not even federal holidays, it's the Knicks.

**Neal Freyman** (1:58)
And now a word from our sponsor, Sage. Toby, are you audit ready?

**Toby Howell** (2:02)
No. Why? Who's asking? Because if it's an auditor, I'm not here and you never saw me.

**Neal Freyman** (2:07)
Well then, maybe check out Sage. They build in role-based access, approval workflows and audit trails, so you're not scrambling when auditors show up or regulators ask questions. In fact, over 6 million businesses used Sage globally across more than 150 countries to help stay audit ready.

**Toby Howell** (2:22)
Plus, Sage helps manage the compliance stuff, so you're not looking up 1099 deadline every January.

**Neal Freyman** (2:28)
Yes, so you're not looking up 1099 deadline every January like Toby. Just head to sage.com/morningbrew to learn more. That's sage.com/morningbrew.

**Toby Howell** (2:38)
Inflation data dropped yesterday and what do you know? It hit a three-year high. Prices rose 4.2% year over year to the highest level since April 2023
However, monthly inflation inched up only slightly, rising 0.5% in May compared to a 0.6% rise in April. That had economists cautiously optimistic that this inflation wave may have peaked as long as oil prices don't spike again. If you're looking to play the blame game, look no further than energy. Energy accounted for more than 60% of the monthly CPI increase. Gas prices are up more than 40% year over year, hitting a peak of $4.56 a gallon in May before mellowing out a bit. Again though, there's two sides to the coin. Without the energy shock caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, inflation would have looked more manageable. Just look at core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy costs. Core CPI came in at 2.9% in just 0.2% month over month, thanks to car insurance, prescription drugs, and new vehicle prices all falling. So, glass half full, when you carve out energy costs, inflation is cooler than expected and in line with economists' expectations. Glass half empty, headline inflation is back above 4%, which is a difficult number for the Fed to ignore.

**Neal Freyman** (3:54)
Yeah, this was a better inflation report than that headline 4.2% number made it seem. The big question was, will higher energy prices filter into the rest of the economy? Will higher diesel prices mean that trucking companies have to raise their rates, and then food companies who are bringing in the supplies have to also raise prices on the grocery shelves in turn? So whether that trickle down effect was happening was the big question. And the answer is not really. I mean, we saw a huge spike in energy prices, but really very tame inflation across the board elsewhere. Grocery prices, something that everyone was watching, rose just 0.1%. Food in general was up just 0.2%.