WASHINGTON - eTradeWire -- Creative Investment Research today released a new analysis of the June 2026 Consumer Price Index (CPI), concluding that while inflation moderated for the first time in several months, Black- and minority-owned firms continue to face significant economic challenges from elevated operating costs and constrained consumer spending.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Consumer Price Index fell 0.4 percent in June, the largest monthly decline since April 2020. Annual inflation slowed to 3.5 percent, down from 4.2 percent in May, largely because of a sharp decline in energy prices. The energy index fell 5.7 percent during the month, while gasoline prices declined 9.7 percent. Despite those monthly declines, energy prices remain 15.7 percent above year-ago levels, and gasoline prices are still 26.7 percent higher than in June 2025.

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"The June CPI report offers welcome relief after three months of accelerating inflation, particularly for transportation and logistics firms," said William Michael Cunningham, founder of Creative Investment Research. "However, minority-owned businesses are still operating in an environment where food costs, housing costs, and many business expenses remain substantially higher than a year ago."

Businesses expected to benefit most from lower fuel prices include:

• Transportation and logistics
• Trucking and delivery services
• Construction contractors

"Recent inflation has demonstrated the value of resilient, diversified supply chains," Cunningham said. "Minority Business Enterprises can help reduce supply-chain concentration, shorten transportation distances, increase supplier competition, and improve regional sourcing flexibility. Those are not simply diversity objectives—they are economic resilience strategies that have a positive, measurable impact on share prices."

The report recommends that policymakers, corporations, and economic development organizations focus on:

• Expanding procurement opportunities for MBEs
• Accelerating payments to small suppliers to reduce financing costs
• Increasing access to affordable working capital
• Developing regional supplier networks that reduce transportation costs
• Treating supplier diversity as an economic competitiveness strategy rather than solely a social initiative
• Treating supplier diversity as an economic competitiveness strategy rather than solely a social initiative

Creative Investment Research notes that inflation remains well above the Federal Reserve's long-run objective.

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"The headline numbers improved," Cunningham concluded. "But the work of building a more resilient and competitive minority business sector is far from finished. The firms that survived the inflation surge should now be positioned as essential partners in building stronger regional supply chains and a more stable U.S. economy."

For more, see: https://www.impactinvesting.online/2026/07/june-cpi-brings-relief-but-inflation.html

Creative Investment Research is writing a research report that measures the impact of supply chain resilience and stability on a firm's stock price.