> Weeks Before the Midterms, Almost Everything Is Getting More Expensive

Mortgage rates close to 7%. Gas prices near their highest levels since 2022. A Federal Reserve interest-rate hike for the first time in three years.

Everything from buying a house to filling up your gas tank now costs more than even a week ago—putting affordability back in the spotlight just before midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.

Consumer prices were up 3.4% from a year earlier in August, extending five years of price pressures on Americans. For five months, wage gains haven’t kept pace with inflation and, especially with the sharp increase in gasoline prices over the past few weeks, they aren’t likely to keep up this month, either.

That could be consequential in congressional races across the country, especially in places where Democrats have made affordability central to their messaging.

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