President Donald Trump is going ahead with new double-digit tariffs on dozens of U.S. trading partners just as the clock ran out Friday on stopgap levies he imposed after a stinging defeat at the Supreme Court. Gas prices soared above $4 this week as the U.S. and Iran launched more attacks. And U.S. applications for jobless benefits tumbled to the lowest level in more than five decades last week. The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits in the week ending July 18 declined by 22,000 to 187,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s the fewest number of weekly applications since the week ending Sept. 6, 1969.

Economics has a term for what U.S. grocery prices have done in recent years. It's the rockets and feathers effect. Rockets, because the cost of food for eating at home shot up up after the coronavirus pandemic. Feathers, because prices fall slowly once they increase. That’s frustrating for Americans digesting a 33% jump in grocery prices since 2019 — the sharpest increase in 50 years. Food price inflation peaked nationwide in 2022, but it hasn’t reversed course. An acceleration during the Iran war prolonged the aggravation. A recent study by the consulting firm Bain & Co. and market research company NielsenIQ found that shoppers are buying fewer items at grocery stores.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest set of tariffs has provoked heated objections from America’s trading partners. The administration late Thursday announced tariffs of 10% to 12.5% on 60 countries. Trump says they failed to adequately enforce a ban on goods made with forced labor. Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell has slammed them as unjustified. New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says the U.S. has not given meaningful evidence to support the allegations against dozens of countries accounting for 99% of products imported into the U.S. Japan's chief government spokesperson says the move was regrettable. The new tariffs took effect just as Trump's temporary 10% worldwide tariffs expired at 12:01 a.m. Friday.

Brent oil shot to its highest price since May after increased fighting in the Middle East threatened to slow the global flow of crude. Sharp drops for Alphabet and Tesla, meanwhile, yanked the U.S. stock market on Thursday to its worst loss in a month. The S&P 500 sank 1.2%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1% and the Nasdaq composite fell 2.2%. Brent oil’s price jumped as high as $102 per barrel during the day, up from $72 early this month. That threatens to worsen inflation, and Treasury yields climbed. Alphabet and Tesla fell following their latest profit reports.

U.S. stock indexes barely budged after oil prices climbed another 3%. The S&P 500 edged down by 0.1% Wednesday after swinging between modest losses and gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was virtually unchanged and slipped less than 0.1%, while the Nasdaq composite fell 0.6%. Philip Morris International, AT&T and other stocks rallied after reporting stronger profits for the spring than analysts expected. But AI stocks continued to swing and dragged the U.S. market with them. The price for Brent crude oil touched its highest level in nearly six weeks, and Treasury yields rose in the bond market.

Britain’s new leader, Andy Burnham, is facing the same old problem: How can he kickstart a sluggish economy so that growing companies and increased output generate enough additional revenue to boost defense spending and pay for everything else voters want without raising taxes? It’s a question that has bedeviled every prime minister since the financial crisis of 2008. And their failure to find an answer is a big part of the reason that the men and women who have taken up residence behind the famous black door at 10 Downing Street in that period have had an average tenure of two years.

Donald Trump has shifted his tone on former President Jimmy Carter, whom he once sharply criticized. Trump now faces similar challenges, like inflation and the war in Iran, which has led to comparisons between their presidencies. Last month, Trump mentioned Carter while discussing Iran, reflecting on Carter's failed 1980 hostage rescue mission. Although Trump still criticizes Carter, he has expanded his comments on past presidents, including Democrats, as he mulls his own historical legacy. While Trump has somewhat softened his rhetoric, major differences remain between the two leaders, especially in their personal lives and their approach to most major policy issues.

U.S. inflation cooled last month as the cost of gas, clothes, and used cars fell, providing some relief to consumers, while underlying price pressures also cooled more than expected. Prices dropped 0.4% in June from May, the largest monthly drop in four years, the Labor Department said Tuesday. Meanwhile, the gusher of investment in data centers — likely topping $700 billion this year — to power artificial intelligence has made memory chips, computer processors, and other equipment, as well as electricity, more expensive. Economists expect it will continue to push up inflation at least through the end of this year.

Drops for computer chipmakers and other AI winners dragged down stock markets worldwide. The S&P 500 fell 0.5% Thursday, even though more stocks rose within the index than fell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite lost 1.5%. Wall Street mostly rose after more U.S companies reported better earnings for the latest quarter than analysts expected. But drops for Nvidia and other chip companies overshadowed them. The losses were sharper in South Korea, where AI winners whipped lower. Yields rose in the bond market, and oil prices erased an early gain to dip modestly.