Wall Street blazed to another rally to cap a winning week, month and first half of the year after reports suggested pressure on inflation may be easing. The S&P 500 jumped 1.2% Friday to reach its highest level since April 2022.

It surged 15.9% in the first half of the year. The Dow rose 0.8% and the Nasdaq composite added 1.4%. The market has rallied through 2023 in part because the economy has been able to avoid a long-predicted recession.

Wall Street also hopes inflation is easing enough for the Federal Reserve to soon halt its hikes to rates, though an index monitored by the Federal Reserve tumbled last month to its lowest level since April 2021, pulled down by lower gas prices and slower-rising food costs.

At the same time, consumers barely increased their spending last month, boosting it just 0.1%, after a solid 0.6% gain in April. The inflation index showed that prices rose 3.8% in May from 12 months earlier, down sharply from a 4.4% year-over-year surge in April.

After three years, the pandemic-era freeze on federal student loan payments will end in October. It may seem tempting to just keep not making payments, but the consequences can be severe, including a hit to your credit score and exclusion from future aid and benefits.

Student loan interest will start accruing on September 1 and payments will restart in October. Experts say that delinquency and bankruptcy should be options of last resort. They say deferment and forbearance, which pause payments, though interest may continue to accrue, are often better in the short term.