WASHINGTON - America's economy got another jolt of frightening news Wednesday as consumer prices logged their second biggest monthly jump in 26 years.

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 April to 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.

In Washington, congressional Democrats began seriously considering a new economic stimulus package.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she wants to craft a plan that would target "those most in need, middle-income families and those who aspire to the middle class."

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

As prices rose in June, take-home pay took a hit. Adjusted for inflation, weekly wages fell 0.9 percent in June, the third straight monthly decline and the biggest drop in almost four years.

Wednesday's news was the back half of a one-two punch on inflation. On Tuesday, the Labor Department reported that prices at the wholesale level were rising by the highest annual rate in 27 years.

Democrats were talking about more money for infrastructure repairs, for food stamps, for state Medicaid programs and energy aid for poor people. Some also suggested tax rebates.

Republicans -- including President Bush -- said they were in no rush to offer another stimulus, and economists weren't keen on the idea.

"Let's get through the existing crisis first, dealing with the housing situation," said House Republican Conference Chairman Adam Putnam, R-Fla.

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke also urged caution.

"Given the high degree of uncertainty, monetary policymakers will need to carefully assess incoming information bearing on the outlook for both inflation and growth," Bernanke told the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday.

More ominously, he added: "There's no single solution. If there were, of course, we would have used it by now."

Concern about the economy has muscled aside almost every other political issue. A new Associated Press-Ipsos poll, taken last Thursday through Monday, found that 77 percent of those surveyed thought the nation was on the wrong track; 16 percent said it was on the right track.

Glimmers of hope

There were spots of good news Wednesday: The Dow Jones industrial average was up 276.74 points to 11,239.28, spurred by falling oil prices. And over the last two days, the price of a barrel of oil has fallen $10.58, sparking hopes that this year's steep rise in fuel prices may finally be reversing.

The good news didn't stop policymakers from stepping up efforts to find ways to ease the wider economic pain.

The year's first stimulus appears to have had only a minimal effect. A survey late last month of 3,004 people nationwide who get financial counseling found that 29.4 percent used their rebate checks to pay for "everyday expenses" such as food and gasoline. Another 20 percent paid down credit card debt.

"The check helped them get by another month," said Scott Scredon, a spokesman for the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Greater Atlanta, a nationwide firm that conducted the survey.

Economists didn't see the rebates giving the economy a significant boost, and didn't see much prospect for a second round of checks or aid doing much more.

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