Business Highlights

WASHINGTON (AP)--In the latest shock wave to hit the economy, consumer prices rose 1.1 percent in June from the month before, far faster than the expected rate of 0.7 percent and almost double the reading from May, the Labor Department said Wednesday.

The only time in the past quarter-century that monthly inflation has been that high was in September 2005, when prices jumped 1.3 percent, mostly because Hurricane Katrina shut down oil refineries and energy prices spiked.

Consumer prices are up 5 percent over the last 12 months, the fastest one-year change since 1991.

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Bernanke says Fannie, Freddie in no danger of failing

WASHINGTON (AP)--Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress Wednesday that troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are in "no danger of failing."

The Fed chief made his remarks to the House Financial Services Committee, his second day on Capitol Hill where he briefed lawmakers on the problems plaguing the economy.

The Fed and the Treasury Department on Sunday came to the rescue of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, offering to throw them a financial lifeline. The two companies hold or guarantee more than $5 trillion in mortgages--almost half of the nation's total_ and are major sources of financing for the mortgage market.

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