Cheaper gas slows US inflation for second month

Nearly every night, drivers speed down the streets of Angelino Heights, undeterred by higher gas prices such as at this petrol station on Alameda Street in downtown Los Angeles. Photo: Jill Connelly/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

WASHINGTON: A sign that the painful inflation of the past 18 months may be gradually easing could come, when the government is expected to report that the acceleration in US prices slowed in August compared with a year ago for a second straight month.

Economists have forecast that the report will show that prices jumped 8.1% from 12 months earlier, down from a four-decade high of 9.1% in June and 8.5% in July, according to data provider FactSet.