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Emerging from pandemic lockdown is shaping up to be pricey

Emerging from pandemic lockdown is shaping up to be pricey. Traveling, eating out and even refreshing your wardrobe costs more, per April inflation data out today.

Why it matters: The economy is reopening and suddenly Americans want in on the activities they've gone a year without. The data shows how much that sudden demand has helped push prices higher — at least for now.


Catch up quick: Year-over-year prices rose 4.2% — the steepest climb since 2008, Axios' Hope King reports. It's coming off the weaker readings from last year when the pandemic hit.

  • On a monthly basis, the index rose 0.8%, much higher than the 0.2% economists expected.
  • A historic surge in used car and truck prices accounted for more than a third of the increase: Prices last month jumped the most (+10%) in the index's 68-year history, thanks to the chip shortage that's zapped car supply.

Other categories with "unprecedented" monthly increases, per Barclays: lodging away from home (+8%) and airline fares (+10%).

  • The apparel index — clothes, shoes, jewelry — rose 0.3%, its first bump since January. Food away from home continued to rise last month, but so did food at home.
  • The surge is "unlikely to be sustained," says Michael Gapen, Barclays' chief economist.

The big question critical to the timeline for fuller economic recovery is how long the higher prices spurred by more demand — or higher input costs caused by a growing list of shortages passed along to consumers — stick around.

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Biden's push for fiber revives a Google dream

President Biden's plan to boost broadband across the country could also be a boon to Google's internet ambitions.

Why it matters: Biden wants to invest billions in building "future-proof" networks to connect all Americans, using a technology that Google previously struggled to deploy widely.

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HUD secretary: Bad enforcement of Fair Housing Act to blame for Black homeownership decline

During a wide-ranging interview for "Axios on HBO," I asked Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge why Black homeownership rates have gone down, while rates for Asians and Hispanics have gone up.

The big picture: "Part of our problem is that we have never totally enforced the Fair Housing Act," Fudge told me during a visit to her native Cleveland.

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Torrid IPO could spur more investment in plus-size apparel market

The fashion industry has been notoriously unfriendly to body sizes and shapes outside the slim standard seen on the catwalk.

Driving the news: Plus-size apparel retailer Torrid’s IPO last week may help thaw those attitudes, at least from an investor standpoint.

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Taliban capture third-largest city in Afghanistan, 11th provincial capital in last week

Data: Al Jazeera and AP; Map: Axios Visuals

The Taliban captured the cities of Ghazni and Herat on Thursday, the 10th and 11th provincial capitals to fall to the militant group in recent days, AP reports.

Why it matters: Herat is the third-largest city in Afghanistan. Ghazni is the closest provincial capital to Kabul to fall to the Taliban — putting their frontlines within 100 miles of the heart of Afgahn government. Capturing Ghazni also cuts off a key highway linking it with Afghanistan's southern provinces.

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