Money in a Minute: Headlines From Around the Web

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INFLATION: Inflation rises at fastest rate since October 2008

Thanks to skyrocketing gas prices, inflation is on a tear. “Inflation accelerated to its fastest annual pace in two and a half years in April,” CNN reports. “More than half of the increase was due to rising energy prices.”

OIL: Obama issuing directives aimed at increasing domestic U.S. oil production

President Obama is sure to anger environmentalists when he opens up Alaska to more oil drilling, among other things he says are needed to lower gas prices. “Obama said the government will begin conducting annual lease sales for drilling in Alaska, make faster evaluations of oil and gas resources in the Atlantic Ocean, and create new incentives to develop unused leases,” Bloomberg reports.

BANKING: Big banks hit customers with higher fees, and more of them

The nation’s biggest banks are hitting their customers with big fees. “On May 24, Bank of America will raise the monthly fee on its most popular checking account from $8.95 to $12,” USA Today reports. “At Chase Bank, fees have increased for overdraft transfers, outgoing wire transfers and stopped payments.”

RETIREMENT: Social Security and Medicare to run short sooner than expected

The country’s two biggest entitlement programs are going broke faster than expected. “Combined, the cost of the programs represented 8.4 percent of the size of the nation’s economy last year,” CNN reports, “a figure that would jump to 11.8 percent by 2035.”

LOTTERY: 10 states with the largest lottery jackpots

If you want to win big in the lottery, head to the Big Apple. “In terms of total prizes paid to all players and the size of the maximum prize, New York holds the crown,” MSNBC reports.

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